One Misadventure After Another
by shieldliger001
Summary: A teen and his best friend and Pokémon. Get stuck in the rain and have a life changing encounter with the legendary Mew. As a result, Caleb and his Vulpix Lawrence go on a journey to reclaim what was taken from them. He gains many friends and repairs his relationship with the one person everyone should be able to count on. His sister.
1. Chapter 1

Hello everyone, Shield here. First off, welcome to my new story. This one is called One Misadventure After Another. This story will have nothing to do with Two Brothers aside from maybe a few references. Also, I don't own Pokémon whatsoever which I have made perfectly clear in my other story. This story will not take priority over TB (Two Brothers) until I finish that story. I honestly couldn't resist uploading this so soon and I hope you like it. One last thing before we start this off. I am going to add quotes to the beginning of each chapter that will give a hint as to what that chapter is about. It's just something that I thought would a little interesting to read before reading the chapter. So on with the story!

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 **Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present is certain to miss the future.**

 **John F. Kennedy**

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 **Chapter One**

"Come on Lawrence! We need to start heading to the next city!" I yelled as I set a bowl of Pokéchow on the ground. A muffled reply came from the bedroom as a red little fox walked into view. "Don't give me that we have a gym badge we need win, and we need to get there before it closes tonight." I said enthusiastically. Lawrence just stared at me as if I was crazy. "Come on, don't give me that look. I've already have everything packed we just need to leave." The fox yawned again as he began to eat the food.

After Lawrence had finished, we walked into the hall and locked the door. As I paid the hotel tab, Lawrence ran outside. When I left the building, the young fox pounced on me. As I lay on my back, the little fox licked my face. I laughed hard as I picked him up and climbed to my feet. Holding him in my arms, we ran through the streets.

 **Lawrence's POV**

"How long until we reach the next city, Caleb?" I asked. Although Caleb can't fully understand me, he and most of his family has learned enough about me to be able to understand most of what I'm saying. Caleb looked at me with the same determined look he gave me when we first left on our journey. "Don't worry we will be there soon." He responded. "Knowing you, we'll end up in the Pokémon league without the last badge." I smirked. "I know how to get to Pewter City ok. You don't have to be so melodramatic you know." He replied. "Oh, I know, but it's more fun being melodramatic." I snickered.

We continued through the Viridian Forest for quite some time, before a Pikachu flew past us followed by a boy jumping through a bush. "I WON'T LET YOU TAKE THAT PIKACHU!" He yelled as he swung at Caleb. Caleb side stepped the kid and watched as he fell into a recently made pile of mud. "What's his problem?" I asked Caleb answered with a shrug. "Hey you! I challenge you to a battle! I'll make you pay for pushing me into the mud! Go Metapod!" He yelled. A familiar swooshing sound filled the air as a ruby beam of light shot from the red and white sphere. The green form of the bug appeared and sat motionless. "You do realize that your Pokémon only has like one move right? That and Lawrence here is a fire type." Caleb spouted. "Yah? Well you probably can't even battle!" the boy shouted back. Caleb said a few more things to the boy before the boy pounced at him. The two began to roll around on the ground like little four year olds. "Five Pokéblock says that my trainer will beat yours." The Metapod said as the two boys continued their rumble. "You're on." I smirked. After a few minutes of fighting, Caleb managed to win by giving the other kid a solid punch in the nose. The kid then fell backwards unconscious. The Metapod seemed shocked, but managed to pay up. Caleb picked everything up, and we went on our way.

"Man, my arm still hurts." Caleb complained as we continued to walk through the woods. "Well, what did you expect? You were rolling around in the mud like you did when you were five." I smirked. "I really should have thought that through." He replied, as a low rumble sounded in the distance. "Great, now it's going to rain also. We aren't even half way there yet." I complained. "I know! I know! I'm sorry ok. We'll just have to find a place to wait out the storm."

 **Caleb** **'** **s POV**

We searched for nearly half an hour before the rain began to fall. It started as a light drizzle but quickly transformed into a downpour. "Caleb, I'm getting cold." Lawrence whimpered. I picked him up and rapped him in an extra jacket I had in my backpack. I wandered around for what seemed like an eternity. "Look Lawrence! A cave!" Lawrence nodded slightly and I ran inside. The cave was very large and spacious. The sound of water dripping in the back of the cave drifted to my ears the farther back I walked. I carefully placed Lawrence on the ground. "It's times like this when I wish you had a Pokeball I could keep you in." I said mostly to myself. "You know what my mom said about that. She said I could only go if you didn't put me in a Pokeball." He whimpered slightly. "You need to rest for a while, ok?" Lawrence nodded and lay down.

As Lawrence slept, I pulled out one of my other Pokeballs. I enlarged the sphere and stared at it. My mother gave the ball to me when I left on my journey. She told me that if I ever had to use it on Lawrence that she would make sure that his mom wouldn't curse me. It was sort of an inside joke, because I had tried catching Lawrence when he was just a kit. His mom, who was my mom's first Pokémon, didn't like that very much. I had to spend nearly two weeks as an Eevee. The bad thing was that my mom and dad said I needed to learn a lesson. I looked back at Lawrence; there were so many times I where I wished I could save him the pain he had to endure after ever battle. This was one of those times. I felt something nudge at me. I looked down to see Lawrence. "Are you feeling better?" I asked. "Yeah, we can go as soon as it stops raining." He answered. All of a sudden, a nearly deafening cry filled the cave. "What is that?" I yelled. Lawrence shrugged as he tried to cover his ears. The sound stopped; once again, the cave was bathed in silence. "It sounded like it came from the back of the cave. Let's go see what it was." I said. Lawrence and I took off towards the back of the cave. "It's really wet in here. You couldn't find a drier cave?" Lawrence complained. "Hey, at least I found a place to get out of the rain, mister I hate to get wet." I joked. He playfully nipped at my foot. "Whoa it's like an underground lake!" I exclaimed. "Whoopee more water." Lawrence said sarcastically. "Wait. Do you hear that? It sounds like something whimpering." I asked, "Yeah, it's coming from behind that rock." We both followed the sound and peered around the rock. "This cannot be real! That's a Mew!" I nearly screamed. "I think it's just a baby. Look at how small it is." Lawrence added. "I also don't see the parents either." I said as I grabbed the empty Pokeball from my belt and enlarged it. "What are you doing? It's a legendary. You can't catch it." Lawrence objected. "I'm not keeping it, I'm going to take it to the Pokémon center and let them help it." I replied. I tossed the ball at the young Mew. Before the ball hit, it was knocked away by a very ticked looking adult Mew. " _You will pay for that you filthy human!_ _"_ it screamed. "I was only trying to help. I'm sorry." I said as calmly as I could. _"_ _Lies! You humans are all the same. Greedy, selfish, pests! I_ _'_ _m going to make you pay for what you tried to do! I_ _'_ _m going to rearrange your place in this world! I_ _'_ _m going to make sure that you won_ _'_ _t survive!_ _"_ It screamed in my head. The Mew formed a large ball of psychic energy. With a twitch of its tail, the ball flew toward me. I closed my eyes and braced myself for the impact. "I won't allow you to hurt my friend!" I heard Lawrence yell. I opened my eyes just a peek to see Lawrence jumping into the path of the ball of energy. "Lawrence! No!" I yelled. He collided with the ball and was absorbed into it. The ball continued towards me, as if the ball had never hit anything. Just like Lawrence, my body was enveloped into the sphere. I blacked out.

 **Lawrence** **'** **s POV**

I woke up on the ground next to the underground lake. The adult Mew was floating above looking down at me with a mix of disbelief and rage. "Why would you put your own life at risk for a piece of trash like him? He enslaved you and he almost enslaved my son." It asked me. "Caleb is my friend. I've been his friend fifteen years ever since I was a little kit. He never enslaved me. I volunteered to go with him because he has always been there for me. I promised him that I would always be there for him. He never wanted to keep your son, he thought that he was abandoned, he only wanted to help him." I said angrily. "I'm sorry, but I must punish him for what he has done. However, I will be merciful. I won't kill him, but I can't allow him to forget this day." The Mew said. It floated over to the limp form of my friend and trainer. A small ball formed in the paws of the Mew. He floated down and looked into the eyes of a barely conscious Caleb. The Mew placed the ball into the center of Caleb's heart. The effects of the ball were quickly self-evident. Red fur began to sprout on his hands, face, and legs. His face began morph and stretch into a muzzle. His nose changed into a little black nose. His brown hair changed into a rusty red color and several red curls formed on top of his head. By now, he began to shrink. He went from his average height of five foot nine to four feet, to two feet, until finally he stopped at about a foot tall. His hands and feet began to change. His small finger and thumb melded into his other two fingers. They as well as the middle finger shortened until they formed the toes of a paw. The same process happened with his feet. There was a sickening crack as his legs reversed direction. There were numerous cracking sounds as I heard bones break. There was also a loud gurgling sound as organs rearranged themselves. Then one white tail pushed its way out from the tip of his spine. The tail was the only thing visible from the pile of clothes.

"I will leave you two in peace. I have given him my punishment, which is far less then what he deserves." The Mew said hate still seeming to pour off the psychic cat. "How did you do that? Why would you do this?" I asked on the verge of tears. "The how is easy. I hold every strand of Pokémon DNA. Therefore, I used some DNA to change him. I already told you the why." It said. "But he didn't mean to keep your son. He was just trying to help. He wouldn't have kept your son. He has too much respect for Pokémon to do that. Please change him back. I'm begging you, please change him back." I begged. The Mew looked at me with a mix of pity and self-righteousness. "Even if I wanted to, I couldn't. I have the DNA of ever Pokémon, but I do not have the DNA of a human. There is no way for me to change him back. He will just have to adjust to his punishment. With you, here to help him, I believe he will be fine. You can try to find a way to change him back if you want, but you probably won't find anything that will help you. I wish you good luck, on your journey. I must depart from you now. Farewell and good luck." The Mew said. It lifted its baby into the air and, in a flash, disappeared.

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A/N: First off, before anyone asks why there is a baby Mew, if you watch the anime or the Pokémon movie, it specifically says that Mewtwo was cloned from the remains of a Mew fossil because they couldn't catch a live Mew. Some would argue that the reason Team Rocket used the fossil instead of the live version is because there was no live version to get. This theory is also false since in the Pokémon manga Blue is seen battling the Phantom-like Mew. This can only lead me to believe that the legendries themselves are little more then very rare Pokémon. I won't deny that some of the legendries are immortal such as Celebi the three Sinnoh dragons and Yveltal and Xerneas from X and Y are a few examples of this. Pokémon like Entei, Heatran, and Mew aren't immortal and must be born. The reason Mew can't change Caleb back is that Mew doesn't have the DNA of a human. If it can obtain that DNA, I have no clue so for this story we will say it can't or it won't. I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter of my new story. I really can't say how often I will be updating this story until after I finish TB. If you have anything to say, leave a review or PM me. If you liked what you read be sure to follow the story, and if you haven't already check out my other story by clicking on my profile. Catch ya'll later, shield out.


	2. Chapter 2

Hello everyone, shield here. I figured since I was almost done with Two Brothers, that I would go ahead a start publishing the next chapter of OMAA for ya'll. This chapter will be the wake up call for Caleb as well as an introduction for a new character. I hope ya'll enjoy the chapter, so on with the story!

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" **My brain is the key that sets me free.**

 **Harry Houdini.**

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 **Chapter 2**

 **Caleb** **'** **s POV**

"Where am I? I don't feel so good." I said as I tried to open my eyes. I felt like I was lying on metallic table, but I couldn't open my eyes to check.

"You might want to keep your eyes closed. I really think I should explain a few things first." Lawrence whispered.

"Why do I need to keep my eyes shut?" I asked. "Now just keep calm, and I'll explain…" I cut him off,

"What do you need to explain? Why do I feel so weird?"

"No! Caleb, don't look!" Lawrence yelled. It was too late. My eyes fluttered open. My eyes met with bright fluorescent lights. There were medical monitors, and tables filled with vials and test tubes. I noticed Lawrence sitting on the edge of the table. At first it had looked as if Lawrence had grown, but I quickly pushed that notion to the back of my mind

"I'm in a hospital? How did I get here?" I asked as I tried to adjust to the brightness.

"Not quite. You're in a Pokémon Center. I had to drag you here." He replied sadly.

"I'm where?" I asked in disbelief. Lawrence nodded solemnly.

"Well hello you two. I see that your little brother is awake, Vulpix." A very tall woman with pink hair said as she came into the room followed by a Chansey.

"Brother? What the heck is going on here?" I asked.

"Remember that time when you tried catching me when I was little?" he asked. I nodded in response. "Well, um, this is slightly more permanent. I gave him a scared nod in response. He jumped off the table and picked up a small mirror that the Chansey had brought with her. He jumped back on the table and placed it on the table. I slowly peered into the glass. My heart nearly stopped. A reddish fox stared back at me. Every time I moved my arm, it moved its foreleg. Every time I shook my head, it shook its head.

"T-hat's m-me?" I stuttered. Lawrence nodded.

"You're sure that your mom isn't playing a prank on me right?" I asked.

"Caleb we are back in Viridian City. We weren't going to meet up with them until after we got the Pewter City gym badge. Heck for all we know they are probably already waiting for us." He responded.

"We have to get ahold of my parents, and let them know about my predicament." I said as a tear ran down my cheek.

"Good luck with that, while sergeant hard nose is here. I tried like five different times to use one of those video phones in the lobby, but every time I get close that Chansey grabs me and puts me back in here. Every time she says that, the phone is for human use only and that she didn't want me to mess it up. I mean come on, its not like I'm wild or something." Lawrence said in an offended tone. I couldn't take anymore. I let all of my emotions go and began to cry. Lawrence walked over to me and began to nuzzle me as a means to comfort me. By now, I had completely forgotten about Nurse Joy and her Chansey, and did not see her walk towards me with a syringe. She quickly picked me up and slid the needle underneath my skin. I felt the arms dragging me down like a ship's anchor, and I quickly fell asleep.

 **Lawrence** **'** **s POV**

"What did you do to him?" I yelled in fury.

"Nurse Joy only administered a mild sedative. A kit his age needs to get plenty of rest. I'm sure that we can both agree that your brother was getting a little too upset anyhow." The Chansey responded. I sighed in agreement before curling up next to him.

Just as I had about fallen asleep, I felt a pair of hands pick both Caleb and me up and began to walk away. Looking up in fear, I quickly relaxed when I realized it was only Nurse Joy. We were carried through a series of hallways before we came upon a big, metal door with a sign that read adoptee waiting room.

"Hey! Why are we going in there? We aren't supposed to be here!" I yelled in mid-panic. The Chansey that always seemed to follow the nurse around looked up at me with mild surprise.

"Your brother is too young to be able to survive in the wild on his own. We can't release him or you out there, unless he is a certain age. Also seeing as how we have no evidence of there is being any parents in the area anyways, we can't possibly allow you to leave." She said.

"For one we have a trainer, and two he's not my brother." I nearly shouted. The Chansey seemed perplexed at the notion before peering down at a clipboard.

"Your DNA analysis shows otherwise. It is saying that your genetic code is almost exactly the same." She said in a matter of fact tone.

"As for ya'll have a trainer, I don't have any records of either of you in the database." She continued.

"Please, we have to find our trainer. He didn't catch us with a Pokeball. He has a certificate that shows he is our trainer and he also had us get a chip put in so we couldn't be captured." I pleaded. The Chansey shook her head apologetically.

"I'm sorry, but unless we get a trainer coming through here with an exact description of you and your friend then we will not be allowed to let you leave. Besides when we gave him his checkup, we scanned him for any microchips. He doesn't have any at all. We would scan you, but it's against protocol to scan Pokémon that aren't patients." The Chansey said before leaving and shutting the door. I looked down at the ground where I was placed on the opposite side of the door. I took a few steps to where Caleb lay, and waited for him to wake up.

 **Caleb's POV**

"Man I must have passed out again. Where are we now?" I asked looking around the room.

"We are in an adoption waiting room. They are trying to get a trainer or family to adopt us." Lawrence answered to my sudden alertness.

"Great. Just great. Now what do we do?" I asked.

"Well, do you see that red box on the wall?" He asked.

"So we are going to set off the fire alarm? That should be a piece of cake!" I took off running, and fell flat on my face.

"It's going to take some time to remember how to walk." I muttered.

"I hadn't seen you land that gracefully since my mom turned you into an Eevee that one time." Lawrence laughed.

"Well I'm glad you find this situation humorous, but weren't we trying to escape?" I shot back.

"It is a good thing you didn't get very far anyways. You would have turned on the sprinklers, and trust me it is very uncomfortable. I was going to say we could trip the burglar alarm; it's that black box next to the red one. That way we get the same result without getting wet." He said.

"Oh, well that makes more sense. So how are we going to reach the burglar alarm? Neither of us is really that tall, anymore." I pointed. He looked at me thoughtfully before shrugging. "Well that's helpful." I said sarcastically. I stood up again and looked around. The room was pretty much like an indoor nature park cut into four pieces. There was one large tree in the center of the room, which connected the different biomes. One of the biomes had a lot of grass and plants in it, one had a pond, another had a lot of dirt and rocks and the last was similar to the rock biome except there were a bunch of heating lamps and other equipment a fire type would like.

"Hey Lawrence, is that what I think it is?" I asked as I motioned to the fire type biome.

"Yeah! That is a Ninetales! Let's go see if it can help us get the alarm!" He shouted. He dashed across the room with me bumbling behind him. By the time I reached them, Lawrence had already started to ask his question. Before he did however, the Ninetales spoke.

"Well I'll be an Aipom's Aunt. Lawrence? Is that you?" The Ninetales asked.

"Aunt Ember? What you are doing here? I thought you and Caleb's Dad went on a journey or something." Lawrence exclaimed.

"We were, but he was attacked by some organization. They came to our camp in the middle of the night and attacked us. He fought them off long enough for us to get away. After we escaped we came here, and I've been here ever since. I broke my paw during the escape. Therefore, he took me here to recover. This Pokémon center is kind of small so they use this room for recovering Pokémon as well." She said as she tried to hold back a stream of tears. "What about you and Caleb, and who is this little cutie?" She asked as she shook away the tears. "Well, we got the Viridian gym badge yesterday, and then we went to this cave to get out of the rain. We heard a noise at the back..."

"I'm sorry Lawrence, but he is just so cute! Come here little guy." The Ninetales said as she climbed to her feet. In what seemed like a couple of steps, she stood in front of me. The sense of weightlessness flooded me as I was lifted into the air by the scruff of my neck. The Ninetales lay back down and wrapped me with her tails.

"So what were you saying, Lawrence?" She asked as soon as she got situated.

"Um...well we went to the back of the cave. Caleb accidentally ticked off a Mew, and the Mew turned him into a Vulpix. And now you're holding him." Lawrence finished. Ember's eyes widened.

"You're telling me that this here kit is Caleb?" She asked. Lawrence answered with a nod. "You're so cute, Caleb! I could just gobble you up!" She squealed as she nearly squeezed the life out of me.

"Ember...can't...breathe." I squeaked as I forced myself to breathe.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you." She apologized.

"Don't you think it's a little odd that Caleb isn't human anymore? I mean that is a major thing don't you think?" Lawrence asked.

"Well, it is a little strange, but it's not unheard of. You said you ticked off a Mew. Yeah, that will definitely do it for you. A Mew is practically the worst legendary to be cursed by. They tend to be very playful, but when you get them mad, then will never forgive you." She said.

"Curse? Does this mean you can lift the curse, or maybe counter curse me?" I asked hopefully. Ember shook her head sadly.

"Afraid not kiddo. I can remove my own curses, but no one can lift another's curse, especially if it's Mew who cursed you." She said sadly. The mood of the entire room felt as though it was a heavy boulder being dropped on us as everyone fell silent. Lawrence was the first to break the silence.

"Aunt Ember, do you think you could help us get out of here? If we don't leave soon, they are going to let someone adopt Caleb. If that happens then he may never be able to escape." Lawrence practically begged. Ember didn't even give the notion a moment to think before lunging into the burglar alarm box. The entire room burst into a deafening screech as the alarm was triggered. The large doors that we had entered through burst open. A security team of five men stood in its wake. All of them held a stun gun in their hands with a holstered sidearm on their belt.

"Careful now boys, we don't know what we're dealing with. Jim, you guard the door. Frank and I will lead the south wall, and Joseph and Steven will take the north wall." One of the men said as he brandished his stun gun. The group split up and left the lone guard at the door.

"Well, that just made our life a whole lot easier. I'm sure we can take out one guy." I said as I took off towards the door. Unfortunately I didn't get very far before I tripped and rolled head over tail, landing on my back.

"Did you have a nice trip or will I see you the next fall?" Lawrence asked with a snicker.

"Do you want to get out of here or not?" I growled. Lawrence feigned being scared and put on his 'don't hurt me' look.

"You two need to do that on your own time. Right now, we need to get while the getting's good." Ember said as she lifted me in the air.

"What are you doing? Put me down!" I demanded.

"Sorry kiddo, but right now you are dead weight if you can't run or walk. You will only succeed in getting us caught." Ember replied as she hoisted me on her back. The sound of footsteps drew my attention back to the task, when two of the security guards were walking back towards us.

"Sorry Joe but I'm not seeing anything. If there was a break in, we would have found some sign that there was an intruder. My guess is that some of the Pokémon just got a little restless." One of the guards said.

"Fine, let's check the burglar control system a see if it was messed with. I'm telling you though; there is something just not right here. I can feel it." The other replied.

"We need to leave now, guys, before they see us." I whispered. Ember and Lawrence nodded. Within seconds, Ember and Lawrence dashed through the door, the guard at the door scrambling for his stun gun he had dropped on the floor.

"We have a security breach in the sector two! Shut down the medical wing of the center! Place the entire center under lock down! I repeat initiate code black!" the man yelled into a shoulder mike. We began to run through the hallways. Red lights flashed throughout the hallway as we ran. We almost reached an exit when a large metal grate, like the ones used at malls or department stores fell in front of it.

"Great, we're trapped." I said sadly.

"It's like I always say 'if the door is slammed in your face, break a window.'" She said. The next thing I knew was that Ember and I followed by Lawrence crashed through a window and landed safely on the ground. The three of us then ran into the nearby forest.

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I hope ya'll enjoyed the chapter. I really wanted to add a little humor in with the fall. If anyone was wondering why Lawrence could read, I figured that since he spent most of his time with humans that he would pick up on a few things. The same goes with the Chansey. I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far, as soon as I am completely finished with TB then I will be continually updating this one. Be sure to leave a review if you really want to say anything about the story. Also be sure to favorite/follow if you like the story so far. This is shieldliger001 signing off.


	3. Chapter 3

Hello everyone, shield here. Everyone knows that I have just posted the last chapter of TB earlier this evening. I will say that though TB was short I don't plan to make this one the same length as Two Brothers. I plan for this one to be about a hundred thousand words as a minimum. That pretty much double the length of TB. I have been writing for quite some time now (though I feel most of my stories before Two Brothers were flops due to lack of enthusiasm in finishing them on my part.) so I feel that this will be a worthy goal for me. Well enough about that let's get on with the story.

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 **No one is so brave that he is not disturbed by something unexpected.**

 **Julius Caesar**

 **Chapter 3**

 **Lawrence's POV**

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"I never thought I would see the day when I would have to escape a Pokémon center." I said as we walked through the Viridian forest.

"If I'm stuck like this forever, I am not ever going back to one of those places." Caleb said.

"You will if your mom makes you go to one. You don't think that she won't try and keep you healthy do you." Ember asked.

"Way to make me feel better, guys." Caleb muttered. "Where do you think we should head to first? We can't just wander around in the woods all day." I asked. Ember looked up at Caleb who was still riding on Ember's back.

"We were supposed to meet with my mom and sister in Pewter City. I think we should meet up with them first." He said. Ember nodded and we started down the old forest path.

"Hey guys, I've got a question. If I'm a Vulpix, then why do I only have one tail?" Caleb asked.

"That's because the others haven't grown yet, Hun. It's kind of a way for us to tell how old our kits are. Having six tails is the equivalent to being about fifteen years old and having one tail is the equivalent of being an infant to early toddler years." Aunt Ember answered. Even through Caleb's red fur, you could still see how pale he had become. A few seconds later, he passed out.

"Do you think he overreacted a little bit?" I asked.

"Lawrence, he has been through a lot the past few days, give him a little slack. Besides, I can recall a few times when some big things happened to you that you overreacted also. Like that time where you accidentally swallowed that Everstone, which caused you to panic because you thought you, would not be able to evolve afterwards." She answered.

"Fine, how long do you think it will be to get to Pewter City?" I asked. Aunt Ember looked up into the dimming sky then looked down towards me.

"We won't make before tonight because of how late it was when we escaped the Pokémon Center. I'd have to say probably mid to late morning is my best guess." She replied.

"Does that mean we are going to spend the night out here tonight?" I asked hoping she would say no.

"Unless you know of a place where we can sleep with a roof over our heads, then yes." She answered.

"Wait, we aren't too far from the cave Caleb was…um…transformed in. We can stay there for the night. It might even have some of Caleb's stuff still in it, assuming no one has been in there lately." I pointed out.

"Then lead the way. With any luck we will even be able to get some food." Ember said enthusiastically.

"Here's the cave, I hope everything is still here." I said as we stepped into the cave. "Yep, it's all still here." I said as we walked further into the cave. I began to dig through the bag as Aunt Ember gently placed Caleb on the ground. "Ok, I found a bag of Pecha berries. Two cans of the good Pokéchow, and five bags of the dry Pokéchow." I said as I pulled out the food from the bag.

"Did you find any milk formula? Because now that I have enough time to look, I'm not seeing hardly any teeth in Caleb's mouth." She explained.

"Wait so you are telling me that Caleb has to be bottle fed?" I asked. Aunt Ember nodded as I began to have a laughing fit.

"That's n-not going t-to bode well w-with Caleb. He is a-always going on a-about how he wants t-to be more i-independent." I laughed.

"Lawrence! Do I need to make you more dependent? Because we both know that I can definitely make that happen." She threatened. I instantly shut my mouth, not wanting my aunt to follow through with her threat.

"I didn't see any, let me check again." I said as I returned to the depths of the hiking bag. At the very bottom was a small battery powered cooler. I bit a small foam handle and began to pull it out.

The cooler gave me quite a bit of trouble as I tugged and pulled it out of the bag. After ten minutes of struggling with the cooler, the bag relinquished its treasure, with much of the bags other content strewn throughout the dirt floor. I opened the box and peered inside. Inside was a jar of miracle whip, some cheddar cheese, some roast beef, and a small jug of Miltank milk. "Aunt Ember? Will this work?" I asked as I tried to lift the jug from the box with my teeth. Aunt Ember walked over to the box and easily lifted the jug from the box. She placed the bottle on the ground and began to examine it.

"Aunt Ember, it's a bottle of milk. It's not radioactive." I said as she stared at the bottle.

"I'm trying to find the expiration date, smart-aleck." She snapped.

"Ok, ok, you don't have to get all bent out of shape about it." I said. She took a few more minutes to stare at the bottle before saying it was ok to use.

"Did you get the bottles?" she turned to me and asked.

"No, I don't think Caleb has any. It's not like we have a lot of babies to take care of." I replied. Aunt Ember gave me the look that read 'go find what I need now or you will not survive the night' look. I sighed then returned to searching the bag.

"Hey Aunt Ember, I found a jar and an empty water bottle but I didn't find any baby bottles." I said as I pulled each item from the bag. "The jar won't help at all without a lid. That water bottle on the other hand, might do the trick. What kind is it?" she asked.

"I don't know. Caleb got it when he won third place at some triathlon a few years ago. If I remember right second place was some really fast bike and first place was one of those water bottles, a bike, and a vacation to the Orange Islands." I said. Aunt Ember looked at the bottle with intrigue. Using some of her psychic abilities, she popped off the cap revealing a rubber straw.

"This will work just fine." She said. She unscrewed the lid, and poured some milk into the bottle by using her telekinesis. She then held the bottle close to herself in order to keep warm.

"So, now what? Do we try to wake Caleb up? Or do we wait for him to wake on his own?" I asked.

"We will just have to wait. If he does not wake up within an hour, then you can try to wake him up, but not a second more. Do you understand?" she asked. I nodded and Aunt Ember began to watch over Caleb.

 **Caleb's POV**

"Rise and shine, sleeping beauty," Lawrence said as soon as I began to stir.

"Shut up. It's not like you know how any of this feels." I said grumpily.

"Maybe so, but it is still fun to tease about." He said with a smirk.

"That's enough you two. Now Caleb, come here so you can eat." She demanded as she revealed a blue plastic bottle.

"Let me think…no. Not just no, heck no. I am not being bottle fed." I refused.

"You will if I say you will. You need to keep up your strength, and I will force this bottle down your throat if I have to. I don't care if you find it belittling, so either you can take the bottle quietly or I can force it down your throat like a real baby. Do I make myself clear?" she asked sternly. She literally struck fear into my heart, but I let my stubborn streak get the best of me. I turned around and began to waddle away.

"I had hoped you would see reason, but I guess we will have to do this the hard way." I heard her sigh. A few seconds later, I stopped moving. No matter how hard I struggled, I couldn't move a paw. Then I noticed my sports bottle float toward me as if some invisible hand was guiding it.

"Now open your mouth before I force you to." Ember said sternly. Reluctantly I obeyed. The bottle popped itself into my mouth, and I reluctantly began to drink. Never before had milk tasted so good. I rolled on my back and used my hind-paws to lift the back of bottle. As soon as the liquid touched my tongue, I latched on to the bottle, unwilling to let it go.

"Hey Caleb, are you enjoying your meal? I would ask if I could have a taste but I'm a little too old for milk." Lawrence teased. His comment really got under my fur. I tossed the bottle away when Ember wasn't looking, and stalked towards Lawrence as he laughed. As soon as I got close enough, I bit down hard on his left hind leg.

"Yeowch!" he yelped as he shook his leg free.

"What in the world are you two doing?" Ember yelled. "He bit me!" Lawrence growled.

"I wouldn't have bit you if you hadn't of made that snide remark about me having to drink milk." I retorted.

"I don't care what happened! You two are friends, so start acting like it!" she yelled. I turned to Lawrence, and apologized. He to, apologized then we both turned back towards Ember.

"Good, at least ya'll apologize to each other, but I'm afraid that there will still be consequences. Caleb, you will go to bed immediately. Lawrence, I have told you many times today to be nice to Caleb because of his condition. Therefore, I feel that you need a little lesson of what it feels like in Caleb's shoes." Ember said as her eyes glowed blue.

"Crap." Lawrence said as he was covered in a blue light. When the blue light disappeared, Lawrence just as he did when he was a month old. "Crap, crap, crap, crap!" he yelled.

"I will change you back when we meet Caleb's mom tomorrow." She said as she curled up.

"This isn't fair!" he yelled.

"You should have thought of that when you were picking on Caleb." Ember yawned as she drew Lawrence and me into her warm tails.

* * *

What did ya'll think? I tried to add some humor into this chapter because I didn't want this story to be as serious as Two Brothers although it will have its moments of being serious. I hope that it worked and you guys got a few laughs out of it. The idea for this chapter actually came from the movie The Cobbler with Adam Sandler starring. In the movie Adam Sandler is a shoe cobbler who can literally walk in another's shoes and become that person while he wears their shoes. Enough about The Cobbler, I hope ya'll enjoyed the story and be sure to review if you have anything to say. Also if you like, the story so far be sure to favorite/follow. This is shieldliger001 signing off.


	4. Chapter 4

Hello everyone, shield here. First off, I'd talk about a few of the reviews. Well, one review.

Phillip Harbindinger: I really had no clue as to what rate the tails grow so I based it on age, which confused me even more because I don't know how old Pokémon live to be. I think that Pokémon live a lot longer then normal animals since a Pikachu named Puka seemed to be at least forty in the episode Pi-kahuna. Let's just say the final decision was made by creative license.

Enough with this, on with the story!

* * *

 **The man who can keep a secret may be wise, but he is not half as wise as the man with no secrets to keep.**

 **E.W. Howe.**

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

 **Lawrence's POV**

I woke up to the sound of Aunt Ember standing up. I looked around the cave. Then I looked at Caleb, who was still sleeping.

"What the heck! How does he have all six of his tails?" I yelled causing Caleb to wake up.

"I told you last night what was going to happen to you." Aunt Ember replied nonchalantly.

"All you said was that I would learn what it felt like to be in his shoes. You didn't say anything about him taking my place for the day." I yelled.

"I felt that Caleb needed to have a break from the past few days. Besides, we only have enough milk for one baby. Since you were acting so much like a baby last night, you were automatically volun-told as your punishment.

"This is so not fair." I complained.

By now, Caleb had gotten a good grip on the situation, and made nothing but wisecracks will I tried to drink from the sports bottle.

"Hey, slow down before we have to get you a whole Miltank." He sneered.

"Are you going to make him stop? That is exactly the reason I got in trouble." I asked.

"Nope, since you teased him yesterday, it's his turn to tease you today." She replied. Seeing that she had no intention in stopping, I tried to return to my…breakfast.

 **Caleb's POV**

I felt bad for teasing Lawrence, but Ember insisted on me making him feel bad in order to prove a point. I continued to tease and jeer him throughout breakfast. Each comment made Lawrence one-step closer to going ballistic. Finally, near the end of breakfast, he exploded with rage. He started to yell and scream. Ember and I waited it out before saying anything.

"Are you finished yet?" Ember asked. Lawrence nodded his head, but it was still evident that he was very angry still.

"It is pretty obvious that you're still mad at me and Caleb. He isn't teasing you on purpose. I told him to, so you would be forced to see how he feels every time you made a remark. It was just to teach you not to be so inconsiderate of your friends. Do you understand?" Lawrence calmed down considerable and nodded.

"Good, now that we've got that out of the way, we can get ready to leave. You two can start packing Caleb's things, ok?" We nodded and went to my stuff.

After ten minutes of dragging around clothes and other odds and ends, a familiar ringing sounded.

"Is that your phone ringing?" Lawrence asked as I began to search for the source of the ringing. I quickly found the phone and turned on the screen.

"Oh crap, it's my mom. What should I do?" I asked.

"Just don't answer it. That's what I would do if I could use a phone." Lawrence said as he returned to packing things into the bag. The phone continued to ring and I was starting to panic, so I answered it.

"Hey Caleb, it's me. I just wanted to tell you that we are about fifteen minutes from Pewter City. Where are you at?" my mom said.

"Ember, is there a way to make me sound human through the phone?" I asked. She nodded trying to keep quiet. Her eyes glowed blue and I began to talk back into the phone mic.

"Hey mom, we are about halfway to Pewter city from Viridian, so it will take us a little longer to get there." I replied.

"Lawrence, give the phone to Caleb please. I really need to talk to him." She replied. I shot a look at Ember, and she replied with a confused shrug. I quickly hung up the phone and glared at Ember.

"I'm sorry; I guess I can't project voices through electronics." She apologized. I sighed and began to send a text.

"I am telling you right now, that sending a text is a pain in the rear as a Vulpix." I complained as I slowly finished typing the message.

"What did you tell them?" Lawrence asked as I finished putting the phone in an empty pocket of the backpack.

"That we were about halfway there, and that it might take us a little longer then usual to get there due to a few technical problems." I replied.

"Why didn't you tell them about the incident? It's not as if your mom is going to believe that you are a Pokémon just because we have your things. She'll most likely call the cops or the FBI or something." Lawrence said.

"I'll figure that part out when we get there." I answered back.

"If you two are done asking questions, we can start moving. I'd like to get there before lunch if that at all is possible." Ember interrupted as she began to walk out of the cave.

The forest was filled with life. Insects were fluttering about and birds were singing. Everything seemed peaceful in this land. However not everything was peaceful in my head. I had thought about everything that had happened over the past few days. Seeing a myth before my own eyes, seeing what that myth had done to me over something I wasn't trying to do, to even what Ember had said about what happened to my father. Then I thought about my mom. She might not even know what has happened. For all she knows he could still be refereeing at the League. I felt bad for not worrying about him earlier but things were just too hectic for me to think about it. My dad was a great guy. He had always tried to find ways to make me laugh. I remember one time; my uncle came over to visit when I was five. My uncle is a few years younger then my dad, but he looks almost exactly like my dad. He and my dad came home and I did not realize that my uncle was with him. Therefore, my uncle and dad played a trick on me. I walked into the kitchen to see my dad cooking something. He said hi and told me to watch the food while he went into the other room. I obeyed and waited. A few minutes later, he came back with a totally different set of clothes on. This had me completely confused. A few minutes later, he pulled the same trick. He had me guessing for nearly an hour.

"Wait, that's it!" I yelled.

"What's it, Caleb?" Ember asked as she and Lawrence came to a halt.

"First off, we will have to have Lawrence back in his body for this to work. Would you mind doing that please?" I asked Ember. She at me doubtfully at first but afterwards her eyes flashed blue. I felt a sudden rush as if I was on a diving jet. The next moment, when I opened my eyes, I was standing right across from where I was just standing. I looked at my body to see that I was back in the body of my infantile self. Suddenly, I was hit with all of the instincts and emotions that I had been fighting for the entire time I had been transformed. They were hard to fight but I managed to get them under control.

"Ok, so now what?" Lawrence asked as he to, checked his body.

"Ember, can you also curse things to be human?" I asked.

"Yes, but it is significantly harder to do so." She replied

"Good, now I need you to put a curse on Lawrence that will make him look and sound just like me." I said. Ember looked surprised at first; but she let a smug grin crept onto her face. Ember's eyes began to glowed blue, enshrouding Lawrence in a light blue light. It became so bright that I could that I couldn't even see where Lawrence was. When the light dissipated, there was a human sitting on the ground.

 **Lawrence's POV**

"Will you guys stop using me as a lab rat?" I yelled.

"Good, now we can go into the city without being caught by a trainer and my mom won't have to know that I'm not me." Caleb said. I sighed in return to Caleb's enthusiasm.

"Here, put these on. We don't need you getting arrested." Caleb said as he pulled out several articles of his clothes from the backpack. I quickly put them on and turned back towards Caleb and Aunt Ember. They both began to laugh.

"You have the shoes on the wrong feet and the shirt inside out." Aunt Ember laughed.

"Well, it isn't like I do this everyday you know." I muttered under their fit of laughter. I quickly fixed my mistakes and we continued into the approaching city.

We walked throughout the city in search of Caleb's mom and my mom, but we had little success. I was a little scared at first, because, after all I'm a Pokémon, posing as a human. However, nobody seemed to pay attention to us. After nearly an hour of wandering, Caleb's phone began to ring. I answered and listened as his mom was yelling and demanding where we were.

"I'm sorry, but we just got a little lost. I we are at the intersection where Emerald meets Granite." I said into the speaker of the phone.

"You are literally standing across the street from the restaurant we are supposed to be meeting at. Hold on a second, I'll send Katlyn out to get you." She Caleb's mom said over the phone.

"Wait, she didn't say she was sending my sister out, the same twenty year old sister that has been making your miserable since you were born because she just couldn't put you down, did she?" Caleb asked as a wave of dread washed over him. I nodded as a smile crept onto my face.

"You have got to make sure she doesn't come near me, Lawrence. Please promise me you won't let her come near me." He begged.

"Well, normally I would but since you kind of forced me into this situation, I think I'm going to let you have the full experience of being something as cute as you." I smirked. Caleb's dread turned into fury then back into dread.

"Oh look, here she comes." I said with feigned enthusiasm as an older girl with brown hair and blue eyes came running across the street.

"What are you guys waiting for, the second coming or something? Get in here before I tell the waiter to serve you something I know you won't like." The semi-snotty girl yelled. I waved to Caleb and Ember to follow as Katlyn and I headed into the restaurant.

 **Caleb's POV**

We followed Lawrence into the restaurant. It wasn't anything to fancy but it was one of the only restaurants to allow Pokémon in side. My mom had picked out a booth next to a window that gave a nice view of the city's bustling activities.

"Mom!" Lawrence and I exclaimed as we rushed to the booth. Then Lawrence did the one thing that would blow his cover. He hugged his mom instead of mine. His mom and mine had looks of shock and surprise on their faces as he embraced his mom.

"Hey dimwit, mom is over there." Katlyn said as she pointed to my mom. Lawrence began to blush before he gave my mom a hug and I walked towards Lawrence's mom.

"Sorry, I was going to hug both of you, but my… I mean Maggie, was closer. I closed my eyes and shook my head as a voice popped into my head.

" _Caleb, what is going on? Tell me right now. Why are you and Lawrence in each others body?"_ Maggie asked _._

" _I'll explain after lunch."_ I responded in thought. Maggie accepted that answer, but glared at me throughout lunch.

* * *

I hope ya'll liked the chapter. I figured that Caleb wouldn't want to tell his mom about him not being human anymore if he could avoid it. Also, the idea that Pokémon can be curse came from another story called Return of the Cursed Gift. In it, one of the characters is learning how to curse things, and she ended up cursing a Spinda into walking straight by accident. So, the credit for that goes to Talkingbirdguy. If ya'll have anything to say or if you would like to ask any questions, leave a review. If you are liking the story so far, be sure to favorite/follow. This is shieldliger001 signing off.


	5. Chapter 5

Hello everyone, shield here. First off, I'd like to thank everyone who has been supporting my story through following my stories. Moreover, a special thanks to Rayrudan and Philip Harbindinger for their continued reviews of my stories. Time to talk about some reviews.

Rayrudan: normally I enjoy reading long chapters also, but since this is only my second story to really publish, I thought that I should start out small with my chapters. I would like to see them to get about four to five thousand words long eventually, but right now I'd like to keep them around two or three thousand until I can improve my skills. Also, I didn't forget about Caleb's tail and will be talking about that in this chapter.

Philip Harbindinger: I can see how last chapter was kind of weird (believe me I thought it was a little weird to write) but I believe that it was necessary for the story because it sets up the introduction for an important character for this story. (Don't ask whom because I hate giving spoilers without good reason. Lol)

Thanks for the support again guys and I hope everyone likes the chapter.

 **Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten.**

 **David Ogden stiers**

 **Chapter 5**

 **Caleb's POV**

"You two are going to tell me what in the world is going on, and you are going to tell me right now." Maggie said as she glared at both Lawrence and me. I looked away from Maggie and looked around the room Lawrence had rented as he was impersonating me.

"Well it started a few days ago when we spent the night in a cave that is about the halfway mark to Pewter City." Lawrence began.

"I don't want to hear any of the excuses so skip to the part where you switched bodies." The large Ninetales said as she rolled her eyes.

"Well that's the thing, you see, Caleb didn't switch bodies. Caleb got turned into a Vulpix and I am..." Lawrence began, but before he could explain further, the door swung open and Katlyn stormed in.

"You are so busted Caleb!" she yelled as she scooped me up.

"Katlyn, I'm over here." Lawrence said trying to get her to put me down.

"Shut up Lawrence. I heard what you said, and I will be getting you to tell my mom the whole story pretty soon." She replied snidely.

"As if you could convince her that he is Caleb. You do realize how crazy that sounds right?" Lawrence said as he tried his best to keep his cover.

"It may sound crazy, but I have proof. " Katlyn pulled out her phone and brought up the voice memo app. She pressed the playback button and played the entire conversation we were having back.

"You see? There is no way you can keep this quiet." She said triumphantly. I squirmed towards the phone and managed to clamp down on the phone, yanking it from Katlyn's hand. Before she had a chance to grab at it, I flung the phone to the ground. The phone's screen was shattered, and the screen began to flash in several different colors.

"Ha! Now try to tell mom." Lawrence shouted in victory.

"Fine, I will. I sent mom a text with the voice memo attached to it." Katlyn said through gritted teeth. Lawrence had a wave of defeat wash over him.

"Look, you can't tell your mom. Please, she can't know what happened." Lawrence pleaded.

"Fine, on two conditions, first, you must tell what happened exactly; second, you have to get me a new phone. The one you broke was brand new." She bargained. I nodded to Lawrence who then agreed to Katlyn's demands. Once again, Lawrence explained what had happened.

"And that's what happened."

"So once again you bite off more then you can chew. What are we going to do with you?" she asked sarcastically. There was a slight scratching sound at the door. Katlyn got up and opened it to find Ember by the door. She rushed into the room without even looking at Katlyn.

"Caleb, I'm sorry but I have to change you back. I will explain later." She said in an almost panicked tone. Before I could even protest, I became surrounded in a bright blue light. I could feel myself revert to my young almost baby-like form. When I finish my reversion, I felt extremely small. I looked around the room to see Katlyn trying her hardest not to lose her self-control, Maggie staring in disbelief at her sister, and Lawrence was shaking his head in his hands.

"Lawrence, you forgot to mention that Caleb was cursed into a baby form of Vulpix. What gives?" Katlyn asked with a laugh.

"I didn't want to embarrass him more then was necessary." Lawrence replied quietly.

"Well, I guess it's decided that I will need to be coming with ya'll. I needed to get out of the regular routine for a bit anyway." Katlyn declared. I nearly fainted. The idea of my sister coming with me scared me half to death. Lawrence, who had returned to his regular Vulpix form, looked at his mom pleadingly.

"I think that would be a good idea. You will need to come up with an excuse to be able to go with him or you might not be able to go with him." Maggie said.

"How do ya'll know that we are leaving? We never said anything about leaving. Besides you hate trainers, why would you want to come with us even if we were going someplace?" I said.

"Why else would you have Lawrence pretend, that he was you. It was somewhat obvious." Maggie answered in a matter of fact tone.

"It's because you are my brother, you know blood is thicker than water thing. I will tell mom everything if you don't let me come with you." Katlyn added.

"Fine you can come." I sighed.

 **Katlyn's POV**

"Why in the world would you want to go with your brother? You two aren't very close as it is." My mother said after I told here the news of my sudden trip.

"I just thought that it would be a good way to get closer. Besides, I think I'm going to become a trainer." I said in a fake defeated tone. My mom looked at me in disbelief.

"You hate trainers. You even joined one of those protest groups because you couldn't stand capturing a Pokémon and using them for battle. Why the sudden change of heart?" she asked with skepticism.

"I promised Caleb that if he was able to get over half the badges within a few months that I would try being a trainer." I lied.

"I didn't think you would even think about making a promise like that." She said.

"I didn't think Caleb could get this far. He got his fourth badge in less than two months." I pointed out. Mom nodded in agreement.

"Fine, I guess you should go if this is how you want to spend your break from college. I just want you to be careful, okay?" she asked. I nodded my agreement and went back to Caleb's room.

"There I got her approval. Now when do we leave?" I asked as I entered the room. Everyone turned to look at me. I looked on the floor to see that Caleb rolling on the floor with a bottle.

"Anyone care to explain why he is eating from a bottle?" I asked.

"Let's just say that Mew wanted Caleb to feel the full experience of being a Vulpix." Lawrence replied. I stared at the one tailed Vulpix that was my brother and began to laugh without even caring. Caleb was so embarrassed that he knocked the bottle away and ran under the bed. I stopped my laughing to see everyone else glaring at me.

"What? What did I do?" I asked.

"You only made him upset to the brink that it might take every one of us to get him out from under there." Lawrence shouted.

"Oh, well I guess I should talk him out from under there shouldn't I." I said. Everyone nodded, and I crawled under the bed.

"You know, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. You do realize that don't you?" I asked as I crawled through the cramped space. Caleb was huddled in the farthest corner of the bed. The dust was so thick that I knew I would need to wash my clothes as soon as I had the chance.

"I already had so much on my plate before all of this started. Now I can't even participate in the league unless I am the one battling. I won't even be able to do that for a while anyways!" He cried.

"I didn't realize how important this was to you." I whispered sadly. What Caleb didn't know was when Lawrence telling the story I felt like I was going to be sick. I didn't want to believe that my little brother wasn't even human anymore because some stupid legendary cursed him because he was trying to help. He doesn't know that was the reason I had to go. When they finished the story, I couldn't help but feel angry. When I get angry, I tease people.

"Look, I didn't mean to laugh. I just was trying to vent some frustration, so please climb out from under here. Though we never got along with one another, you are still my brother. So remember that, ok?" I asked. The little Vulpix that was my brother stared into my eyes with the same dark blue eyes of his human self, and then looked away. He stood up to his full height, which was only about foot tall, and began to crawl out from underneath. I quickly followed suit and withdrew from the cramped space.

"Now that we have that little problem taken care of, what do we do now?" I asked.

"We have to get you ready to leave for the journey." Lawrence said.

"Yeah, and that means you get to do your favorite thing. Shopping." Caleb added as he blinked away the tears. The way Caleb said this left a sour taste in my mouth.

 **Caleb's POV**

"No, there is no way I'm wearing that. It's hideous!" my sister yelled, which seemed ten times louder since I transformed.

"Why not? That's what all of the trainers are wearing. You didn't think that being a trainer only required having a Pokeball did you. You have to dress in a way that you will feel comfortable and in a way that you wouldn't mind getting dirty. " I said as Katlyn threw the clothes back on a rack.

"I'm not going to look like some ragamuffin. I'm only doing this so you don't have to be like this. No one said that I had to dress like a misfit." She said sourly.

"Fine, let's just look at some of the things you wear and decide if it's fit for traveling in the woods." Lawrence said as he ran off through the store. I picked Caleb up since he was still a bit slow on his feet and ran after Lawrence.

"Let's see here. Ah, here we go. This is the stuff you would rather wear right?" Lawrence asked as Katlyn nodded. She picked up a very expensive dress and flicked over the tag. "Oh look. The tag says to only wash in a clean environment in room temperature water. The forest is neither of those." I said with a smirk.

"You can't get that one either because it can only be machine washed." Lawrence said as Katlyn grabbed another outfit. She began to reach for another set of clothes and again I gave here reasons she couldn't buy it.

"Argh! Fine, you win!" she yelled in frustration.

"I hate to say I told you so, but…"

"But you're going to say it anyway. Fine you were right and I was wrong. What more do you want me to say?" she asked in a controlled fury.

"Young lady, are you ok? I thought I heard you yell." A security guard asked as he rushed towards my sister.

"I'm fine. My brother is just giving me static of why I shouldn't buy certain things for our trip." My sister said through gritted teeth as she motioned towards me. I would have face palmed myself but I figured it would look sort of out of place if a Vulpix tried to do a human gesture.

"Um, miss? Are you sure, you're ok? I'm sure I can help if you need it." The guard asked with a bewildered look.

"No thank you, I'm fine." Katlyn replied. She went pale as what she had just said finally sank in. She quickly turned around and walked off.

"Congratulations, now the rent-a-cop thinks you're crazy." I snickered as we hastily retreated to the outdoors section of the clothing store.

"Shut up before I stuff you inside a Pokeball." She threatened with a frown. I gave her the hurt puppy look, making Katlyn scowl even more.

When we returned to the outdoors section of the store, I instructed Katlyn on the type of clothing she would need for the outdoors. She begrudgingly grabbed the items I pointed out.

"You know, I wish my mom and aunt had come at least they would have made it to where your sister wouldn't be throwing things into the basket." Lawrence said as Katlyn chunked a package of AA batteries into the cart.

"I'm glad they stayed with my mom, because ever since they found out what happened they have been treating me like a five year old." I replied. "Don't you dare say it Lawrence." I warned as he began to say something. He quietly closed his mouth and returned his gaze to my sister.

"There, that is everything you said. Now can we leave? I have to get to the hotel and pout for a while." Katlyn said in an irritated tone.

"Where's the hat?" I asked with a wry smile.

"For the last time, I am not wearing any stupid hat." She nearly yelled. Several people a few aisles looked up from their shopping and peered at my sister, who seemed to be yelling to nobody at all. I began to snicker when my sister scooped me up and stared straight into my eyes. She gave a look that said not to mess with her or else, then placed me into the basket. Being in the basket was very embarrassing for me and I had to deal with Lawrence laughing about it the entire way to the checkout line. As soon as we checked out, we headed back to the hotel where we would pack for the trip to Pallet Town the following day.

I hope ya'll enjoyed the chapter. I feel that this chapter is just the way I had planned it. I based Katlyn off of my little sister and my cousin. The part where she feels that she needs to help Caleb is based on my sister because despite how anyone is treated she tries to help us in any way she can. The fashion part is based on my cousin because she really likes to wear nice things. She is the same age as my sister, although she likes nice clothes, unlike my sister who does well with a pair of shorts, flip-flops and a t-shirt, she is still nice and cares for her older brother. Although at times, she can be very snarky towards him. As usual, be sure to review if you have any questions or comments about the story. If you like what you are reading, be sure to favorite/follow. This is shieldliger001 signing off.


	6. Chapter 6

Hello everyone, shieldliger here. I have to say that this was an awesome chapter to write. I'm sorry for the pun I used in this chapter. I really couldn't resist. I really hope you guys like this chapter, as much as I liked writing it. On with the story!

Rayrudan: I actually do have a sister. And I did vent a few things about her into this character. She is twelve, I think. Don't judge me because I have three brothers and three sisters. Their ages are 4 through 13 years old with me being the oldest at 16.

Phillip Harbindinger: I actually came up with Caleb because I liked the name. When I got to thinking about it yesterday, I just realized that my baby cousin was named Caleb lol. No wonder I liked the name haha.

November Red Angel: Yes I just had to add the puppy dog eyes. If it was a move, it would be super effective against all Pokémon.

 **Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friend.**

 **John 15:13 KJV Bible**

 **Chapter 6**

 **Katlyn's POV**

"This is so embarrassing." I said as I looked in the mirror. I was wearing a dark blue t-shirt and a pair of khaki cargo shorts that had enough pockets that you could lose something and not find it for ten years. I had Caleb's Pokeball belt around my waist. I had an old baseball cap on with my brown hair pulled through the back of it in a ponytail. I had a pair of steel-toed hiking boots on with regular white shoe socks underneath. To completely the barely wearable outfit, I had an old camo army jacket that our dad gave Caleb when he turned ten.

"Look, it may not be the best looking outfit in the world but it's what you can wear that you won't care about if it gets dirty." Caleb said as he slowly walked towards the mirror. The look on his face, when he stared into the mirror, seemed to be a mix of acceptance and sadness. "You know, when I first found out what had happened to me I was trying to tell myself that this was just like the time Maggie turned me into an Eevee but it's not, is it?" he asked as I looked down at him.

"No Caleb, it's not." I confirmed. We looked into the mirror again. "I guess that means that we have a long trip head of us. I have a feeling that it's going to be a lot harder then either of us are expecting." I said in a soft tone. We sat there staring at ourselves in the mirror for a few more minutes before I heard a knock on the door. I got up to answer it. "Lawrence! Why are you here? In fact, why are you disguised as my brother again so soon? We aren't leaving for another hour." I questioned as Lawrence pushed his way into the room.

"I have a present to give Caleb. I figured that since I had a few hours to myself then I would get a few things before we leave." He said as he pulled out a black leather case with a gold latch on the front. Lawrence flicked the latch up and opened the lid. He knelt down on one knee and offered the contents to Caleb. I looked inside the case the same time that Caleb did. Inside was a dull gray boulder badge. "I wanted you to have this. It is so you will always remember that, you and I will make it to the league. No matter what the shape or form you have; someday we will make it there." He said in a resolute tone.

"Where did you get that? You didn't beat Brock did you?" Caleb asked with tears in his eyes.

"Aunt Ember and I decided to take him on. I disguised myself as you and we took the challenge. Since there are no restrictions, on what Pokémon you can use Aunt Ember volunteered for the battle. She took out Brock's Geodude in only one hit from her Extrasensory attack. The Geodude rolled away and passed out because of the spinning. Brock's second Pokémon was a Pokémon I haven't seen before called a Gigalith. It was big, but Aunt Ember was able to confuse it, then she hit it with an Iron Tail to the face. It went down as fast as a rock in water." Lawrence said excitedly. Caleb went up to his friend and nuzzled him.

"I really hate to break this touching moment but how about we leave a little early? If we leave right now, we can get to Viridian City by nightfall." I said as I picked up the backpack I had bought. Both Caleb and Lawrence glared at me in return, but they both decided to follow me outside.

We walked a little ways to the lobby where my mom stood waiting. She ran up to me and hugged me as hard as she could.

"I knew you would try to sneak out. You are just like Caleb when he first left, or did he talk you into leaving early?" she asked as she broke the embrace. I shrugged and pointed back at Lawrence.

"I hope you have fun, and be sure to be safe. Call whenever you get a chance, and whatever you do, do not forget to have at least one Pokémon on you at all times. I love you very much." She said as she began to tear up. I assured her that I would do as she said. She then turned to Lawrence and gave him a hug. "Lawrence, you be sure to keep Caleb safe, and be sure you take care of yourself." She said with a shy smile.

"Did my mom tell you?" he asked in surprise.

"I listened to my daughter's voice recording. I had a hard time believing it at first, but after reviewing how you acted at the restaurant, I knew it was true." She replied. "And Caleb? Be sure to keep your sister out of trouble. And make sure that you will come back to me, I don't care what species you are, you are my son and I will always love you." She said as she knelt down and kissed him on the head. Caleb began to cry and my mom began to hold him and shush him.

"We better get going if we are going to try to get there before nightfall." Lawrence said. I took the lead and we left the hotel.

"I hope she will be alright." I said as we reached the edge of town. The sun had barely reached noon and it was very bright, but it felt like it was the darkest day of my life.

"She will be fine; I just hope that she really believes that Caleb is going to help his sister. We better get going or we may never get there before dark. Aunt Ember, could you change me back now?" he asked. He was suddenly engulfed in a blue light. Within seconds, Lawrence reverted to his original form. We quickly placed the clothes into my bag, and then continued our walk to Viridian City.

We spent nearly three hours walking before we stopped for a break. I pulled out a PB and J and some chips, then gave Lawrence and Ember some dry Pokechow and a few berries. I pulled out a package of new feeding bottles and filled it with formula and water. After shaking the bottle thoroughly, I reached for Caleb. He jumped back with more ease then I had ever seen him possess.

"I absolutely refuse to be fed by a bottle. I am sixteen years old, and to be fed like that is absolutely humiliating." He said defiantly.

"You are going to have to eat sometime. You know better then anybody that you have to eat, especially now that you can't have normal food yet." Lawrence said as he pushed his friend toward me.

"I wouldn't need to eat like this if Ember hadn't of changed me back. It's her fault that any of this is happening." He yelled angrily. I looked at Ember to see that she had a gloomy look on her face.

"I had to change you back. When you were explaining what had happened to you to Maggie and Katlyn, I was visited by the same Mew that cursed you. It told me that if I continued to interfere with your punishment, that it would be forced to kill you and your family. The Mew gave me five minutes to reverse my curse before he decided to level the entire building. My timing wasn't planned at all. I had no way of knowing that your sister was in there, I promise." She confessed. She began to cry softly and I placed the bottle on the ground and sat next to the large fox in order to comfort her. After several minutes, I was able to calm her down.

"Hey guys? Where is Caleb at?" Lawrence asked. I looked up to see that Caleb had completely disappeared.

"Caleb! Where are you?" I shouted into the woods. I felt a wave of dread crash over me. I grabbed a can of mace I had placed into the bag and began to run into the forest. Lawrence and Ember followed close behind me.

 **Caleb's POV**

I ran as fast as I could with tears streaming uncontrollably from my face. I didn't care where I was going. I just told my legs to keep moving forward. I suddenly found myself in a deserted clearing surrounded by trees on all sides. I felt totally alone and vulnerable.

'This is what I get for running off like that.' I thought as I slowly looked around for any signs of life. The entire clearing was void of any life. There wasn't a single bird chirping or a bug buzzing. Then I heard a twig snap.

"Who's there? Show your self!" I said with a trembling voice.

"If you insssist." A voice hissed as it approached me. Standing in front of me was a gigantic Arbok. Its smooth scaly body extended and contracted as it slithered towards me.

"Normally I wouldn't ssshow myssself to my food before I eat them, but sssince you asssked nicely I thought I'd make an exception." The snake explained as it quickened its pace. I tried to will my legs to move, but they were paralyzed with fear. I closed my eyes and waited for the end to come to me. I could hear the snake coil then spring through the air. I waited, but all I heard was a loud thunk. I opened my left eye to see the snake had landed directly in front.

"Who did that? When I get my tail around whoever did that he isss going to die!" the snake hissed in fury. The large reptile began to scan the area for his attacker. I decided that now would be a good time to get away and began to sneak away.

"Where do you think you are going? You are going to be my desssert after I catch the rotten chump who decided to interrupt my sssnack." The snake said as he cut off my escape route. While the snake was focused on me, I saw a yellow and white blur smash into the back of the snake's head. The snake turned around, and again the yellow and white creature smacked the back of the snack. "Ssshow yourssself you coward!" the snake hissed angrily. The yellow and white creature dropped right in front of us. Though the Arbok blocked most of my view, I could tell from what was visible that it had to be a Jolteon. "Now I will crusssh you." It hissed. The snake lunged at the Jolteon. Suddenly there was a bright light. A large Thunderbolt flew into the Arbok. The strike caused the air to fill with the smell of ozone. The snake started to have severe muscle spasms the electricity passed through it and into the ground. The snake collapsed into a twitching heap. To my surprise, the snake was still breathing, but it was self evident that it would not be getting back up for awhile. I still couldn't see the Jolteon's face because he had turned away from me.

"Thank you for rescuing me." I said. The Jolteon didn't say a word. I slowly walked up to him, but he only tried to turn further away. As I got closer to the creature, I began to notice scars all along his body. Some of the scars were jagged, but there were places that seemed to have been sliced away with a scalpel. The scars were just too clean to be anything else. I gave one final try to see his face. It nearly took my breath away when I looked. The Jolteon's left eye was brilliant purple; the right eye was a clouded white eye. Over his good eye, the Jolteon had a massive scar that started over the right side of his left eye then curved over and down the left side of his face, giving him a slight zombie-like appearance. The Jolteon began to walk away when I called out to him.

"Don't go! I don't know where my family is!" I yelled. The Jolteon stopped in his tracks. He gave me a look that seemed to ask if I was scared of him. I smiled at him despite being scared of his appearance. Despite his appearance, I could sense that he wasn't an unkind type. "I'm not scared of you. If you were bad, you would have let that Arbok eat me." I said. The Jolteon smiled then began to sniff the ground. He signaled me to follow him, which I immediately obeyed. Suddenly the Jolteon tackled me to the ground. Lying on my back, I looked up to see that the Jolteon wasn't trying to attack me, but was shielding me from a now conscious Arbok. The Arbok sank its fangs deeply into the scarred Jolteon, pumping poison into the smaller fox.

"Kindnessss, isssn't tolerated here in the foressst." The Snake hissed. The Jolteon was starting to feel the effects of the poison as he sagged lower to the ground. Suddenly, I heard a loud crunching in the brush, and two pillars of fire flew through the woods. The two lines of flame engulfed the Arbok completely. I looked over at the source to see that Ember, Lawrence, and Katlyn had rushed onto the scene. When the flames had died down, I noticed that the Arbok was unconscious, but it had not withdrawn its fangs from the Jolteon.

"Throw the ball at the Jolteon!" I yelled in panic. Katlyn had reached down to my Pokeball belt and plucked off the only Pokeball on it. She enlarged the ball to its full size then threw it like a baseball. It sailed through the air, and missed the Jolteon by a hair. It did hit the Arbok, and sucked it in with its red beam. The Pokeball shook once, twice, then three times before clicking shut. "Katlyn! You completely missed him!" I yelled furiously.

"I'm sorry, I have never done this before!" she yelled back nearly in tears.

"Quick, we need to get him to the Pokémon center! Katlyn, you also need to get the antidotes out of the bag. They will help, but that Arbok pumped too much poison into him for them to heal him!" I yelled. Katlyn nodded before digging into the bag. She placed all of the antidotes on the ground and began to pour them on the wounds. After she had finished, she took off her army jacket and rapped it around the Jolteon's body. Without saying a word, Katlyn picked up the ball then snapped it to the belt. She then picked up the Jolteon, and we began to run to the center.

Ok so the credit for the Jolteon goes to Rayrudan. He sent me the OC will I was still writing Two Brothers. I told him that I wouldn't be able to use him in that particular story, but that I could use him for OMAA. Before anyone asks, I will not take anymore OC at this exact moment, but I may ask for one later on in the story. Now that that is out of the way, I do have a question for ya'll. How would ya'll feel if Katlyn had something bad happen to her? After all, this story is called One Misadventure After Another. I have a few ideas of how to do it and what I want to happen, but I would like your input. Leave your input in the reviews or pm me. Also if you want you can send me some ideas on what can happen to her, as long as it's fairly reasonable. As usual, be sure to leave a review if you have anything to say, and favorite/follow if you are enjoying the story. This is shieldliger001, signing off.


	7. Chapter 7

Hello everyone, I'm so sorry that for taking so long on this update. I have decided that I will update on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. This chapter was a little harder to write, so don't judge me lol.

BYoshi1993: thanks, I really appreciate the review. Honestly, I thought that it would be better if there was more then just fighting involved in this story. Thanks for the follow and favorite.

Rayrudan: I definitely see your point, but then again his actual flesh and blood family wasn't feeding him before. I mean I can honestly say that I wouldn't want my sister feeding me with a bottle. It would just be too weird. I probably would die of embarrassment.

Enough with the review discussion, on with the story!

* * *

Whenever there was a crisis, I found someone to take the edge off the feelings of helplessness and pain.

Susan Cheever

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

 **Jolteon's POV**

'Where am I? Everything is so blurry. Is that a Ninetales? There are two Vulpix also. Are they her kits? What's holding me? She smells like flowers, but she also smells like a human! I have to fight! I have to get away. I can't let them take me away. They will torture me! Argh, why can't I move? This clothe is restricting me. I need to shock it! I can't, I'm too weak. What is that large red thing? Is that another lab? I won't go back! I can't! I won't! Can't fight anymore. Too tired. Too weak. I failed.'

 **Caleb's POV**

The Jolteon squirmed weakly for quite a bit before it finally ceased to move. I could only hope that it was still alive. You could have taken down a Tyranitar with the amount of venom that was pumped into that Jolteon, but somehow he was strong enough to keep fighting for his life.

We continued to run as fast as we could to the Pokémon center. I had to be picked up by Ember since I kept tripping until I had bruised and cut myself to bad to continue. We finally made it to the edge of the forest, and I caught a glimpse of the red building. To my dismay, Lawrence, Ember, and I had escaped the same Pokémon Center. However, despite my discomfort, we continued into the building.

"I need a doctor! Someone I need help!" Katlyn yelled. Several nurses rushed at us. They took the Jolteon and laid it on a stretcher. Then they carted it down a long hallway. We followed the nurses until they pushed the stretcher into the operating room. We would have gone in but a young doctor blocked our path then ushered us into a sort of viewing room to watch the care that was going to be given.

"Ok people, what is going on?" the young doctor said as he came in prepped for an emergency surgery.

"We have a male Jolteon with massive internal bleeding. It was injected with 110 milligrams of myotoxins from an Arbok, which has caused heavy muscle degeneration." The head nurse stated as she handed the doctor a chart.

"That much venom should have killed him in a few seconds, he is luck he is able to fight this at all. Get me 50 milligrams of antivenin. The nurse handed him a syringe filled with a yellowish liquid. The doctor injected the contents then turned back to the nurse, who took the syringe. "He should be stable for now. I'm going to have to open him up in order to repair the internal bleeding. Nurse hand me the scalpel."

"Here you go doctor." She replied as she handed him the knife. Just as the doctor began his cut, the heart monitor began to beep quickly.

"Doctor B/P is 70/35 and falling rapidly! I'm losing the pulse!" the nurse next to the monitor said urgently. Then the monitor let out one continuous beep.

"Hand me the defibrillator and charge it to 200 volts. Clear!" the doctor said as he rolled and charged the defibrillator.

"There is no response." Another nurse said.

"Charge to 600 volts. Clear!" the doctor said as he tried again. Again, there was no response. "Charge to 1000 volts. Clear!" he said one more time. The monitor began to beep once again. "Good work people. Now let's finish the job." The doctor said as he wiped his brow.

 **Katlyn's POV**

After awhile helping with the surgery, Nurse Joy came out of the OR.

"Are you the trainer who brought in the Jolteon?" she asked in an almost accusing tone. I nodded, but otherwise didn't say a word.

"You should be ashamed of yourself young lady. The poor Pokémon in there was abused so much that we were having a hard time being able to decide what went where. Trainers like you give everyone else a bad rap. I will be call the police and I will be taking your Pokémon in order to give them the home they deserve." She said in a murderous tone.

"Joy, calm down. This Jolteon isn't the victim of regular trainer abuse. The damage was caused by a surgeon's hands, and a very good surgeon at that. I would have to say that this Jolteon was victim to experimentation." The young doctor said as he to, emerged from the operating room. Nurse joy stood there in disbelief. "Joy, how many times do I need to tell you that you need to stop assuming the worst? You know about the old phrase about assuming right?" he asked. The Nurse nodded, apologized, and then left to attend to her other duties. "I'm so sorry for Nurse Joy's reaction. She always assumes the worst has happened then can get very aggressive."

"That's ok doctor. So, how is the Jolteon?" I asked as I looked down at Caleb.

"He is fine for now, but I would like to keep him here for a few days to make sure he is completely out of danger. He was injected with a heavy dose of myotoxins. The myotoxins attack the muscular system and some forms can cause the muscles to break down. Honestly, with as much venom that was injected. That Jolteon should have died within half a minute. With your help, he should make a full recovery. Oh and good job with those antidotes. They may not have cured all of the poisoning, but it cured enough for him to be able to fight." The doctor said with a shy smile.

"Thank you. Do you mind if we see him?" the doctor nodded then took us down to a small room. The Jolteon was lying on a soft bed sleeping. The doctor ushered us in then told us to take our time.

 **Jolteon's POV**

The pain of the laboratory came flooding back to me. As I snapped back to reality, I began to catch glimpses of my surrounding. I was inside another human torture chamber. I caught a glimpse of the Vulpix I had rescued and his brother. The Ninetales sat near the right side of the bed. The bed itself was in the middle of the room with cabinets all around the room. I began to move as the pain had all but disappeared. I slowly sat up and looked around with my good eye. Before I got a good look at the room. I felt a human hand touch my back.

" _Get away from me you filthy human!"_ I growled telepathically.

"How did you do that? Why didn't you say anything when you rescued me?" the youngest Vulpix asked.

" _I won't say anything until this filth gets her hand away from me."_ I said gruffly. The human removed her hand from me and sat quietly in my blind spot.

" _Where am I? How did I get here?"_ I asked in a nicer tone.

"You were poisoned by an Arbok. Katlyn rapped you in her jacket and carried you to the Pokémon Center so you could get some help." The youngest said. "But how did you say anything without talking? Are you a psychic type? Are you one of those special delta species?" He asked with wide eyes.

" _Ha-ha, no I'm not a delta species. Those only exist in fairytales. I learned a trick from an Alakazam. He taught me how to communicate with others by using psychic type Pokémon, or in this case a Ninetales, as sort of a translator."_ I chuckled as I tried to put my definition into terms the young one would understand.

"Why do you need a translator? Can't you just talk regularly?" the older Vulpix asked. My mind instantly filled with the pain and suffering of the human's little shop of horrors. I must not have completely blocked my mind from the Ninetales as she physically began to tremble from, what I could only guess were the images that had flooded my mind.

" _I can't talk normally because of an old injury I received after I evolved. It caused me to lose all ability to talk."_ I replied with a sad smile.

"Do you not like humans?" the younger one asked innocently.

" _No, I do not. They have caused me too much pain. The humans I was with killed the one human I actually cared about."_ I said sadly. The youngest kit looked as if he had been physically hit, but I tried to play that off because he was obviously domestic.

" _Enough about me, why not tell me a little about you guys?"_ The youngest suddenly seemed scared and hid himself behind the Ninetales.

"I'm Lawrence. I'm the son of a Pokémon champion. She was the Ninetales that defeated Steven Stone and his Metagross. After the championship, my mom and her trainer moved here to the Kanto region so we could get away from the fans, but that was way before I was born." Lawrence said proudly.

"My name is Ember, I am Lawrence's aunt. There really isn't much to say about me aside from the fact that I have to watch these two like a Talonflame, ever since we sprung this joint a few days ago." Ember said as she still shook slightly. "The young one is Caleb. He doesn't like to tell people much about himself." Ember added seeing that the kit wasn't going to say anything.

" _It's nice to make your acquaintance. My name is Zan. I would like to thank you for saving my life."_ I smiled.

"You shouldn't thank us, you really should thank Katlyn. She was the one who really saved you." Ember answered. Then the door opened, and a human in a pink uniform walked in. The human in my blind side stood up and walked towards the door. The door closed silently behind them.

 **Katlyn's POV**

"Nurse Joy, is there something wrong?" I asked as I left the room.

"No, not at all. I just thought you should know a few things before you take the Jolteon. You see that according to the physical we performed after the surgery, 20% of his body is covered in scars. Many of the scars seemed to have been caused by constant surgery. We believe he was a part of some kind of experiment." Nurse Joy explained.

"Yeah, the Doctor said something like that before we were taken to recovery." I confirmed.

"Yes, anyways, we found something odd in his blood work. There were tiny devices floating through his blood. They were no bigger then a virus, but they were definitely synthetic. They seem to be helping with the healing process, which is how he survived for so long and how he is recovering so fast." The Nurse said. "On a more physical note, he is blind in the right eye. We aren't sure of the cause, but we can say it has something to do with the scars that cover his body. One last thing, we found a slight deformation in his vocal folds, or vocal chords, as most would call them. They seemed to be fused to the sides of the windpipe, which is causing the Jolteon to be mute. This type of thing only happens when someone tries to debark an animal, but they fail to do so properly."

"I want him to be in better condition then when we found him. He saved my brother from being killed by the Arbok. I you to anything you can for him. This will be a small way for me to repay him." I said resolutely.

"I'll tell the Doctor, and we will get right on it."

"Thanks Nurse Joy. I really appreciate it."

* * *

So guys, what did you think? I hoped you enjoyed the chapter. There wasn't much action in this chapter, but don't worry it will pick up. Due to no response to my question last chapter, I have decided that something will happen to Katlyn seeing as how she is the only one who hasn't had something happen to her yet. No it won't be another TF, but it's something that I haven't seen very much of in the Pokémon section of this site. If you are enjoying the story, be sure to favorite/follow the story. Also, if you have anything to say, be sure to leave a review. It will be much appreciated.


	8. Chapter 8

Hello everybody, shield here. Honestly, I felt that this chapter is somewhat dull. It does give Zan some background as well as some detail about a new character. Although it is kind of boring, I felt that it was necessary to write. Also, I decided that this story will be apart of the same universe as Two Brothers, and I made it to where the new character knows Evan and Jason, although I have no intention of having them meet Jason and Evan. They will only be mentioned briefly in this story. On to the reviews.

Rayrudan: thanks, I hoped I did a good job on this character. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

BYoshi1993: thanks for the advice. I will try to do it like that for when I'm writing. However, by the time you read this I'm working three chapters ahead. It's my way for keeping a check and balance. Also, I was watching Grey's Anatomy before I wrote this. So that and the fact that most of my family has worked in the medical field, had a big influence on how I wrote this chapter.

Now that that is over, on with the fic!

It takes an extraordinary toll on me to re-live my experiences, the horrors of my past and the pain I had to endure. And yet, I believe remembering is the only way to promote healing, to promote awareness, and accountability.

Ger Duany.

 **Chapter 8**

 **Zan's POV**

I talked with the kits for quite a while until they both fell asleep. Then I began to talk to Ember. At first, we talked about the weather and shared some funny stories of when we were young. I knew what Ember was going to ask, I just didn't know when. Finally, after it had gotten quite dark, and only a dull lamp gave any illumination, she asked.

"What happened to you that you got all of those scars?" she asked hesitantly.

" _All of these happened so long ago, shortly after I evolved. When I was an Eevee, a man gave me to his son as his starter Pokémon. Back then I was so young, so naïve, when I left I was the same as Lawrence. My father was the man's partner, and I wanted to do everything to be like my father. You see, my trainer was the youngest of three brothers. His oldest brother died overseas, and his second brother went missing a few weeks after he began his own Pokémon journey in order to make his parents proud and to try to bring back some happiness. My trainer and I had set off to collect the eight gym badges needed to participate in the Unova Pokémon League. We had gotten really far in the challenges. We snagged six of the eight badges. We had made it halfway to the next gym, when my trainer received a call from his father telling him to find somewhere to hide. He didn't say what we had to hide from, but before we could hang up the phone, men in black uniforms ambushed us. They took down my trainer in a matter of seconds. They injected me with something that caused me to pass out. The next thing I knew was that I was in a cage. The sound of crying Pokémon reached my ears. I spent weeks in that cage, with barely any food or water. Then one day, a guard came to see me. He took me into an office where a man with a Persian sat. He didn't treat me as everyone else had. He actually treated with a decent amount of respect. That was before he offered me two choices. The first being that I would evolve and be willing to help with their research, and the second would be that he would use my trainer for the test if I didn't comply. I told him that if he needed an evolved Eevee for the experiment, then there would be no way to use my trainer instead. I know he didn't truly understand me, but I think he already knew that I was going to refuse to help him. He ordered his men to bring in my trainer, which they did. He had been tortured. They had beaten every inch of his body. His right arm was hanging in an unnatural angle. They strapped him onto a table then placed these white patches on his head. My trainer was struggling the entire time but he couldn't break free. After they strapped him into the machine, another guard brought in a cage with a baby Pichu in it. They attached similar headpieces onto his head. The leader then began to explain that the consciousness is a uniquely tuned set of electrical impulses that contain the consciousness, the soul, and the intelligence of a living creature. He said that their scientists have found a way to transfer the consciousness of a human to that of a Pokémon. He gave both my trainer and the Pichu a drug that almost instantly put them both to sleep. The leader continued to speak about how the first test subjects had died during the initial testing, but started to say how they managed to pull it off. A scientist came in and said that they had just induced REM sleep and that they had just synchronized the different brain waves. The leader smiled cruelly, and then began to explain that when you are in REM, you are able to dream. In rare occasions when two brain waves are close to, being synchronized people and Pokémon can share dreams. Then he said that if the brain waves are completely synchronized then it's possible for the consciousness to travel from its original body to that of another. As he explained all of this to me, he began to press a button. The lights in the room began to flicker as the machine took all of the electricity. When the machine stopped, the scientist said that the trial was a complete success. I was completely horrified. Then the leader said that he did this as a warning, and that if I refused he would make my trainer go through the experiments himself. I agreed so that my trainer wouldn't suffer. The leader smiled evilly and had his guards take me away. He had also sent my trainer with me as to remind me that if I disobeyed, then he would take my place. As the door closed behind us, I heard a gun shot ring through the office door. That was when I vowed to never trust another human. My trainer may not have died mentally that day but his true body was destroyed._

 _The next five years felt like five centuries. We were both mistreated, me more then my trainer. By then I had lost the use of my right eye due to the scientists wanting samples of tissue there. They injected me with all sorts of chemicals just to find out what would happen. If it weren't for my trainer's sake, I would have died long ago. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, we escaped. There was a raid on the facility where we were kept. We managed to escape unnoticed because of the chaos that ensued. Before I met you three, I still thought I was in Unova. I didn't even know that I was on a completely different continent."_ I said as I finished my tale.

"Where is your trainer now?" Ember asked.

" _Probably still at our hideout. Wait, how long have I been here?"_ I asked suddenly as I felt a pang of fear enter my heart.

"It's been about two days." Ember asked with a puzzled look.

" _I need to go find him! He could be in danger! I was only going to be gone for a day to scavenge some food!"_ I panicked. I got up weakly and struggled for the door, but the larger Ninetales blocked my path.

"You are still weak from your battle. You stay here, and I'll go find him. Where is your hideout?" she asked in a steadfast tone.

" _It's in an old house not far from where I found Caleb. You should be able to follow my scent if it hasn't rained yet. His name is Jack."_ I said in defeat. The Ninetales nodded then scratched on the door. The girl that had rescued me opened the door and the Ninetales walked out.

 **Ember's POV**

Getting past the Pokémon Center was easy, but finding the house wasn't. I searched for Zan's smell, and found it, but it was very weak. By the time it was dawn, I had traveled in a circle that was about a mile wide in diameter. Finally, I had caught the scent of old rotting lumber. I followed the smell until I saw an old farmhouse standing in an overgrown clearing. The door was hanging on by a single hinge, and all of the windows were broken. As I entered, a small squeaky voice called out to me.

"Zan is that you? Do the password if it's you." The voice squeaked.

"Jack, I don't want you to freak out, but I am not going to hurt you." I said. I waited for a reply but none came. I walked to where the voice had come from to find the space completely vacant. I looked around and found nothing. I began to search the rest of the building. I searched the house three times but didn't find a thing. Then I looked out a shattered window to see a flash of yellow come from the grass. The tiny bolt of electricity hit right above the window but it did no damage. I walked out of the house to the spot where the spot had originated to find a dazed Pichu lying on the ground.

"Please don't eat me, I don't taste good!" the Pichu cried. I couldn't help but smile as I lifted the child and placed him on my back.

"Why would I eat the very person I said I would find?" I asked with a smile. The little mouse looked at me in surprise. "Besides, you wouldn't even make a snack." The little mouse face was priceless at my last comment though I had no real intentions to eat the poor boy. We headed back towards the Pokémon Center in silence.

 **Zan's POV**

It had been nearly five hours since Ember had left, and I was stuck babysitting the two Vulpix kits.

'No wonder Ember wanted to go find Jack. These two have been arguing non-stop since they got up.' I thought as the two were griping at each other. The human had also been watching the two earlier, but she was so sick of trying to break up the fights that she left the room again.

"I'm not going to do that, Lawrence. It may be okay for you but I refuse to be petted by anyone. Not even by my sister. It's just flat out degrading for me." Caleb said. I found his comment very odd considering the fact that being petted is a very pleasant feeling, which even I enjoy.

"Come on Caleb, you need to stop living in the past. You need to face the future. You may never be able to do what you want now. Life isn't as complex as it used to be. Sure, we are still going to look for answers but you need to learn how to adapt to these changes. Besides, being petted is very relaxing." Lawrence said. Caleb shook his head no, as the door opened and the human girl walked through the door.

"Hi everyone, hopefully you are all getting along." She said as she came near me. She had a look that said that she already knew that they weren't. I would have growled if I could have, but I had to settle for a glare. She kneeled down and scratched Lawrence behind the ear. She then walked over to Caleb and picked him up against his will. He struggled for several seconds but failed to break free.

"Will you stop babying me? I am not one of your old Pokémon plush toys." The one-tailed fox lightly growled.

"Maybe so, but you are definitely a lot cuter now then a few days ago." The girl smiled. I had a hard time keeping up with what was being said because it just didn't make any sense. Then I tried to reach out with my mind. I didn't know if my mind trick would work with a Vulpix but I tried anyways.

" _Will someone tell me what's going on?"_ I asked with little hope of receiving a reply. Lawrence, who had been laughing at the turn of events, suddenly stopped.

"I thought you had to have a Pokémon that can use telepathy in order to do that, Zan." Lawrence stated as he stared at me. Both Caleb and the human girl turned and looked at Lawrence as if he was crazy.

" _You're right, but it seems that Vulpix are able to use the psychic type moves I need for communication. Although I think that your friend and that pest think you are crazy right now judging by the looks they are giving you."_ I shrugged as I sighed inwardly at my partial success.

"Caleb and I may not see eye to eye sometimes, but that doesn't make him a pest. Besides, if you think Caleb is a pest, you should see his sister when she is in a mood." Lawrence responded. Then when he looked at his friends, he added, "Zan is trying to use his telepathy trick, he says that I have the move that he needs for the trick, but I don't think that I know a psychic type move."

"Yeah, you do. Remember when we were about to face Misty a few months ago? Right before we reached the gym you learned Extrasensory. That was your first psychic attack, but you stopped using it because you said it gave you a headache." Caleb said. When he finished his last statement, all the pieces fell into place. There was no way that he was more then a month old. The reason Caleb wasn't acting like a young Vulpix was because he wasn't a Vulpix kit. He was a human, just like my former trainer!

I hope ya'll enjoyed the chapter. I was a little wary because I wasn't sure if this would be overkill on Zan's backstory. If you have anything to say, anything whatsoever, please leave a review. They really help me understand what ya'll think I should work on. If you like the story, be sure to hit that favorite/follow button. This is shieldliger001 signing off


	9. Chapter 9

Hello everyone, shield here and I'm back with another chapter. This chapter has more excitement then the last. Also I did some third person in this chapter, I wont be doing this a lot but I will through some of this in every once in a while. I would like to thank everyone that has been reviewing my story. Ya'll have been a great help to me. I also encourage anyone who wants to say anything to leave a review. I hope ya'll enjoy the chapter. On with the story!

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 **The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who do nothing about it.**

 **Albert Einstein**

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 **Chapter 9**

 **Third Person POV**

A man in a white lab coat walked down a long hallway in a dimly lit building. The man's expression was of a great calm, and the air around him was filled with a sense of importance. The man passed by doors that were marked with biohazard signs and other markings that any sane person would try to avoid.

The man continued down the hallway until he stopped in front of a large steel door. 'Biotechnology lab 24' the sign read as the man slipped a magnetic stripe, card key through the electronic lock on the right side of the door. The door's lock beeped with satisfaction and slid open with ease. The inside of the lab was filled with tools and equipment that not even Bill or Professor Oak would have. The man smiled and grabbed a clipboard. He studied the papers attached to it before the door slid open again.

"How are the projects going Doctor Mitchel? I have been hearing very good things about your department lately." A man in a dark suit asked. Mitchel thought he heard sarcasm leak from the man's voice, but decided that it was best not to push anything.

"We have made some real progress with the nano probes. We have increased the efficiency of the probes allowing them to heal damaged tissue one hundred percent faster then the original prototypes. However, the original prototypes still seem to be more effective, because we haven't figured out how to make the body, human or Pokémon, accept the probes. It's a shame that most of the research was lost when the Meridian base was raided." Mitchel said as he continued to pour through the letters and symbols on the clipboard.

"Well, Doctor Mitchel, you will be happy to hear that one of the main subjects has been located. The subject is a male Jolteon. He is about fifteen and going strong. He is one of the only test subjects to be unaccounted for after the raid. He was injected with the original prototypes and, I suspect, he'll be a very big help to you and your research team." The man said in an unnaturally happy tone.

"Thank you, Giovanni, sir. The assistance of this Jolteon will be a wonderful asset to my research." Mitchel said gratefully. Giovanni gave out a dark smile before turning and leaving the large lab.

 **Katlyn's POV**

"Has anyone seen Ember? I haven't seen her since last night." I asked as I came back into the Jolteon's room. The Jolteon was quietly watching Caleb and Lawrence whisper to each other. When no one acknowledged me, I asked a little louder.

"Ask Zan, he stayed up late last night talking to her." Caleb said as he uncovered his ears.

"Who is Zan?" I asked with a confused look. Caleb and Lawrence gave me the look that meant 'are you serious' before returning to their conversation. I went over to the Jolteon who had barely moved an inch. "So your name is Zan. That is an unusual name." I said.

" _Is there something you want human, because if you don't then leave me alone."_ He said telepathically. I was taken aback by his gruff tone but I quickly reformed my composure.

"Have you seen Ember? The other two said that they haven't seen her and that you were the last to see her." I asked. The Jolteon snorted and gave no reply. I was about to give up when his voice entered my head.

" _She went to look for my trainer. I am not going to explain anything to you, so don't even ask. She should be back soon, I would think."_ He said in a defeated tone, as if just by telling me he had broken some sacred law. I thanked him and he snorted again, as I left the room.

 **Ember's POV**

"Finally! I thought that I passed it." I exclaimed as the red and white building came into view. We had just made it to the street when several. Men in black uniforms had started to surround the building.

"No, it can't be them. Please, it can't be them." The little mouse on my back trembled.

"Who is it? I don't recognize any of them." I asked.

"It's Team Rocket. They are the ones who away my family. They are the ones that made Zan the way he is." Jack replied in terror.

"I thought that Team Rocket was disbanded. I haven't heard anything about them in nearly twenty years. At least not since my trainer and I took our journey."

"They didn't disband. They were waiting. They had to wait for their leader for a few years then they waited to build up their resources. When you have been inside the enemy stronghold for as long as I have, you over hear a few things." Jack said in contempt and disgust.

"Well, we are going to have to watch what happens because there is no way we can get in there now."

 **Katlyn' POV**

I went to the front of the center in order to clear my head, when I heard someone arguing with one of the nurses behind the counter.

"I dropped her off a few days ago so she could be treated for a broken paw. How do you lose one of your patients like that?" the man asked angrily.

"Sir, your Ninetales escaped this center several days ago. We tried to contact you to let you know what has happened but we couldn't reach any of the numbers on your Trainer ID. We are terribly sorry." The nurse apologized.

"I told you people that I would be at the hospital for the next few days. I'm sure that if you checked the video footage, you see me there with several bullet wounds in my arm and legs. The doctors at the hospital said they wouldn't let me out of the room for three weeks. Heck, if I hadn't of snuck out the window, I wouldn't be here. Now, where is Ember?" the man shouted.

"Dad, you were shot?" I screamed. My dad turned around in confusion.

"Katlyn? What are you doing here? What are you wearing? You look like you're a Pokémon trainer." He asked in surprise. I ran up to him and gave him a hug. He returned the gesture before he gave me his questioning look.

"It really wasn't my choice. A few things happened and I was rather forced into this. Trust me I really don't want to be a trainer." I replied. My father nodded then hugged me again. I opened my mouth to say something else when I heard the sound of breaking glass. Several round canisters flew into the room and began to fill the room with smoke.

"Katlyn, get back!" my dad yelled as he threw the canister back through the window. I began to retreat through the hallway with my dad following. When the smoke had completely filled the lobby, a squad of people came through the front door.

"Don't use live rounds people, I don't want any casualties. Use the tranqs if you must, but if you kill anyone I will kill you!" the leader of the group yelled. At this moment, several of the Pokémon Center's security guards burst into the room. The entire room became chaotic, as darts and stun rounds flew around the room. As soon as the room erupted into chaos, it died again. Several of the invaders lay on the ground, as did all of the security guards. My dad and I retreated to Zan's room. I quickly opened the door and slammed it shut. My dad pulled out an old .44 that he always carried around, then pulled out a Pokeball. Tossing it, the ball released my dad's most powerful Pokémon. It was a large Tyranitar.

"Whatever happens, you must stay here. You need to protect what I'm assuming is your Pokémon. Here take this. If anyone besides me enters this room, use it. It only has six shots so make them count. Do you understand?" I nodded as he handed me the revolver. He smiled as he and the Tyranitar walked into the hallway.

The minutes crawled by as the sound of shouts filled the air. The sounds seemed to never end but soon they had died down considerably. Suddenly without warning, the door flew open. I pointed the gun at it and almost pulled the trigger when a hand slammed my hand into the air. There was a single bang as my finger finished squeezing the trigger. I looked to see that it was a police officer. My dad was standing behind the officer. I dropped the gun and hugged him with all of my might. He returned the gesture and we all headed outside.

 **Ember's POV**

The fight lasted only a matter of minutes. Members of Team Rocket could be seen being carted away by the cops as members of the center were helping take of the people and Pokémon that had been injured. I walked towards the center with Jack on my back. With all of the excitement, we were pretty much ignored. I looked around for any of the others. I finally caught up with Katlyn. She led me back to the others where I found Katlyn's dad and Prometheus his Tyranitar.

"You really should have stayed in the hospital, you know." I said while the man had his back towards me. He turned around in a surprised manner then gave me a hug, which I gladly embraced. "Did Katlyn tell you about Caleb? If she didn't, she needs to tell you." I said as he pulled away.

"Dad, Caleb has changed a little. He was on his way to challenge Brock when he was cursed by a Mew. In fact, that is Caleb right there." She said in an almost sad tone as she pointed to the Vulpix kit at her feet.

"Your mom told me as soon as I got out of the hospital. She actually told me about right before I got to the center. She didn't tell me about you though. Now I see why you became a trainer." He smiled.

"Hey dad. I didn't think that I would have to look up at you like this again." Caleb said with a smile. Their dad smiled again and knelt down to get a better look at his son.

"If I didn't know better, I would have confused you with Lawrence." He said with a chuckle.

We all stayed and talked for a couple more hours. Jack had finally found Zan, and I had caught up on what had happened while I was with Caleb from Prometheus. That was when Jack came up to Katlyn.

"Thank you for saving my friend. I know he is going to hate me for this, but can we go with you? I feel that if we go with you then we will have a better chance of avoiding Team Rocket. Also, I can tell that you care for your friends. If you need our help at all, we will gladly help. We owe you our lives." The little mouse said solemnly.

"I don't mind. The more the merry, I always say." Katlyn replied cheerfully.

"Except when I ever wanted to go with you. If I wanted to go to the movies with you, you said no. if I wanted to go to the zoo with you, you said no." Caleb smirked. Katlyn slapped him upside the head playfully. The mouse smiled then jumped on her shoulder. Zan scowled but walked over towards Katlyn. Soon however, we had to go our separate ways. Their father hugged both Katlyn and Caleb, before motioning for me to follow. I wanted to go with Katlyn, Caleb and Lawrence, but I couldn't leave my trainer as if he meant nothing to me.

"I'll be seeing you Katlyn. You take care of your brother and Lawrence, you hear?" I asked as I began to follow their father.

"Are you sure you don't want to come? We could use your help." Katlyn asked as I began to leave. I nodded and heard Katlyn sigh.

"Don't you worry one bit. You may not have me with you anymore, but now you have two more friends. Jack seems to be very resourceful and Zan may not seem to care, but he won't let anything hurt the ones he cares for. You will be fine." I said as a tear rolled down my cheek.

"I guess I'll be seeing ya'll later then." Katlyn said as she hugged her dad then me.

"I'll see you later. As for you two, you both make sure she is ok. If anything happens to any of you then I don't know what any of us will do." I said as Katlyn's dad began to signal me to come on again.

"Your dad seems eager to go home. I love all of you."

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As usual, I hope ya'll enjoyed this chapter. I thought that it would be good go with the original evil organizations then going with something I made up, like the Rocket's Flare. I can't wait to get the next chapter out for ya'll. In it, we will finally get to our first destination. I think that special thanks should go out to all of my readers, and especially to Rayrudan, BYoshi1993, and Philip Harbindinger for their support of this story. Until next time, shieldliger001, signing off.


	10. Chapter 10

Hello everyone, Shield here. I hope ya'll liked last chapter. Since no one left any reviews for that chapter, I am assuming that ya'll did. Anyways, this chapter is mostly for humor, but it finally gets the team to their first destination. I hope ya'll enjoy it, on with the story!

 **I think you end up doing the stuff you were supposed to do at the time you were supposed to do it.**

 **Robert Downey Jr.**

 **Chapter 10**

 **Caleb's POV**

My dad left for the north exit of the city. He said he was going to head to Pewter City and catch a flight back home in Saffron. He also said not to tell mom about what had happened to him since he was going to do that himself. We all said our goodbyes and began to head to the south gate.

"Well, do you think we will make it to Pallet Town before dark?" I asked as Katlyn held me in her arms.

"We can try, but I would have to say that we probably wouldn't make it there before dark." Katlyn answered. I looked around to see that everyone was following.

"Um Katlyn, I think we should make a pit stop at the Pokemart right quick. We can't have everyone just following us around all day. It would make everyone ten times easier to kidnap." I said just before we reached the gate. Katlyn looked around at the small group of Pokémon then looked at the nearly empty Pokebelt.

"Well ok, we'll need to buy some now. I already have one empty one so that means we only need three more right?" Katlyn asked as we turned around and headed back into town.

We entered the Pokemart and wandered around until we came across a case of Pokeballs. Several of the devices had been customized with a different seal for different Pokémon. Some had seals of thunderbolts and others with rocks and symbols. Katlyn picked three pokeballs with the same elemental types as us. Katlyn quickly paid for the items and left the store.

"So, who wants to go first?" Katlyn asked as she pulled the round devices from the bag. She then unclipped the Pokeball from her belt and tossed it into the pile. Jack was the first to step up. He picked up a Pokeball that had a small thunderbolt on it; then enlarged it. The Pichu seemed to struggle a bit with the full sized sphere but managed to press the center button. He was sucked into the ball by an almost blinding red light. The ball shook once then clicked.

" _I'm only going along because of Jack, so don't get any ideas that I'm your friend, human."_ Zan said as he to disappeared into a Pokeball.

"I guess that means one of you two is up next."

"How about you let me have my original Pokeball? That is the one that mom gave me before I left home. It just seems right somehow, you know?" I said in earnest. Katlyn enlarged the ball then tapped me with it. Instead of sucking me into it, a giant, purple blob materialized and landed straight on top of Katlyn and me. I felt the scaly body start to move slightly as I struggled underneath it.

"Katlyn, you forgot about the Arbok that you caught in the woods the other day." Lawrence laughed. Katlyn had finally gotten loose and climbed to her feet and had a very angry look on her face.

"You could have reminded me instead of waiting until I opened the Pokeball." She yelled angrily. Lawrence continued to laugh as she helped me out from under the snake's belly.

"Sssomeone get the number of that truck that hit me." The snake said with a slight hiss. "Oh there you are bite sssize I wasss in the mood for a sssnack." The Arbok said as he slithered near Katlyn and me.

"You lay one scale on him and I will turn you into a snake skin belt. Do you understand me?" Katlyn said defensively. The snake stopped moving for a second then looked at the ground.

"Yesss ma'am, I won't hurt him. I promissse." My mouth nearly fell to the ground. I looked over at Lawrence who had a similar expression on his face.

"So you aren't going to try to eat me, just because she said not to?" I asked in disbelief.

"That isss about right bite sssize. Ssshe isss the bosss. Ssshe alone managed to capture me. I am the Sssnake King. The lord of all sssnakesss. I gave an oath that if I could ever be captured that I would obey my captor as their bondsman. A bondsman isss sssomeone who isss proven to be worthy of the viper clan that isss not from my clan, and isss captured after combat. Ssshe has captured me. I am her bondsman." He hissed in a defeated tone.

Katlyn seemed just as surprised as I was because all she could do was mutter the word return and pointed the ball at the Arbok. It disappeared into the ball.

"That was unexpected." Lawrence said as he regained his ability to speak.

"I guess that means that we will be you using the other Pokeball for you, Caleb." Katlyn said as she knelt down and placed me on the ground. I walked over to the ball, enlarged it, and then caught myself. The beam captured me just as it did the others.

Being inside the Pokeball is very interesting. It's as if you are standing in a dark void that would bend to your will. If you thought about anything, it just seemed to appear. I didn't get to explore much of anything since I was practically released as soon as I had gotten into the device.

"Well, how was it?" Lawrence asked as I fully materialized.

"It didn't feel bad but it was a little weird." I replied.

"Well we better get going. Do you want to go back inside the Pokeball or do you want to stay out?" the idea of exploring the Pokeball did seem appealing. It would be nice to see what all I could do. Though I wanted to test it out, I decided that I should stay out and enjoy the fresh air.

We left the city in a reasonable amount of time. Route 1 was very quiet despite it being fairly cool for the summer time. We saw only a few people, most of which were just talking or walking towards the small town. We managed to reach Pallet Town by the time the sun had set. The little town had definitely grown a lot since the days of when Ash Ketchum had first left on his own journey and became a Pokémon Master. After that, the town hit a major boom. People all over the country wanted to see the champion for themselves. It grew even more when Samuel Oak had disappeared during one of his major research excursions. After he disappeared, Gary Oak was handed the reigns of the lab and continued to help starting trainers. Though the town had grown, it was still smaller then most of the cities in Kanto and thus did not qualify for being able to host its own Pokémon gym. We walked down Main Street, which now comprised of lots of shops and restaurants. We quickly found a cheap hotel to stay. We rented a room and quickly began to unwind.

"I am going straight to bed. If anyone needs me I'll be passed out on the bed." I said tiredly as I literally crawled towards the bed.

"Not before you have had a bath. I'm not going to sit in bed and smell you all night. Besides, the bed is mine and Vulpix or not I am not going to have my brother sleeping in the same bed as me." Katlyn said firmly.

"I can't take a bath! If I do then I could get hurt remember?" I yelled in panic. Katlyn paid no heed. She scooped me up and carried me into the shabby bathroom. She turned on the water and let it run for a bit. The room filled with steam as the water rose in the tub. "If this kills me, I will kill you when you reach those pearly gates." I deadpanned.

"You will be fine. Your Pokedex said that some fire types could withstand water better then others. You are on that list. It says that it is safe to give Vulpix baths as long as the water is at least seventy degrees. So quit complaining and get into the tub." She said. I didn't budge. Katlyn sighed and came walking towards me.

"You are going to get a bath and that is final. You might as well get it done," she said as she bent over to pick me up. I noticed she had left the door open and smirked. I made a mad dash between her legs. She tried to pick me up, but she missed terribly. "Caleb, get back here!" she yelled as I dashed for the cover of the bed. I slid under the blanket that covered the bed's legs only to realize that the bed's legs were a big box. I smacked into the box full force with my head. Katlyn was standing behind me. She had effectively trapped me and she knew it. She easily picked me up and carried me into the bathroom. She locked the door this time then pulled out a Pokeball. She pressed the button and a bright light streamed from the ball. The Arbok materialized in front of the door. "Arbok, what is your name?" She asked as the snake looked around.

"My name Basilisk, mistress." The snake said with a bow.

"Basilisk, that's an interesting name. Ok Basilisk, can you keep Caleb from squirming for me while I clean him?"

"Yes mistress, I live to serve." The snake slithered over to the edge of the tub. He gentle lifted me up despite my squirming. I let a whimper as the warm water began to touch my toes. Then he placed me completely into the water. I didn't know what to expect. I thought that it was going to feel like acid or something. Instead, it felt very relaxing. Katlyn grabbed a bottle of shampoo and lathered it in her hand. She then began to spread it through my fur. After about ten minutes of rinsing and cleaning, Katlyn dried me off and took me back into the bedroom. Katlyn grabbed the other two Pokeballs from her belt and opened them. Jack and Zan both appeared on the carpet. Jack seemed a little sad and Zan looked as if he had just awoken from a nightmare. Katlyn didn't say a word as she reached into her pack and pulled several packages of food. She fed everyone before she returned her attention back to me.

"Come on Caleb. You need to eat before you go to bed."

"Go to bed? It isn't even ten thirty yet. I don't even feel tired right now." I said as she came towards me.

"Look, we have a big day tomorrow. I really want to get some shuteye while I can. Besides, the doctor said that if you keep running around like a triathlete that you will run yourself into the ground. He gave me some medicine that will help keeping your metabolism down. He said that it would help your body stabilize back to the speeds that it should be going at your age. Get over here now, or I will have Basilisk come over here and make sure you eat your food and make you lay down on the couch over there." She said sternly. Reluctantly, I walked over to her and she fed me my late dinner.

I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. I tried to make this one more funny, so I could relieve some of the tension that the last chapter had formed. I have decided on what will happen to Katlyn. I won't give ya'll any spoilers because I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise. Be sure to leave a review if you have anything to say. It's really the only way I know if I'm doing a good job. Also if you like the story and want to keep up with the updates, be sure to smash that favorite/follow button! This is shieldliger001, signing off.


	11. Chapter 11

Hello everyone, shieldliger here. I just want to say that I am very, very happy on how this chapter turned out. I really hope you like it, because I haven't been this excited over a chapter since chapter 6. I am proud to say that this is my longest chapter yet. It is almost 4,000 words. Hopefully i will be able to keep making long chapters like this. Anyways let's go to the reviews.

Eric566: thanks for the review! Yes, I do want this story to be funny, but I also want it to be somewhat serious at the same time, since my last story was, in a way, a little dark. Thanks for the support and I hope you continue to enjoy this story.

BYoshi1993: Thanks for the review. I never really thought about using first person for the Pokeball descript. Thanks again and I will be sure to make the changes to that. I hope you like this chapter and continue to support the story.

On with the story!

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 **One of the most sincere forms of respect is actually listening to what another has to say.**

 **Bryant H. McGill**

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 **Chapter 11**

 **Third person POV**

A young man knocked on the thick oak door. He was only in his early twenties and was very smart. Team Rocket recruited him as soon as he had gotten out of college. He wasn't necessarily a bad person, and he hated much of what Team Rocket did. However, no one else was going to pay him the money he needed to take care of his family. The door slowly opened and he walked into the ornate office. The office was filled with priceless artifacts from all over the world. The office was shaped like an oval with a large mahogany desk in the center. There was a man sitting behind the desk with his left hand placed on top of a very thick file folder.

"Joshua Marik, I have received nothing but good reports about you and your work. You are smarter then most of the grunts and have even exceeded in the toughest areas of your training. I do not say these things to flatter you. I say these things because they are true. I do however; know of your distaste for my organization. I am prepared to make an offer that you cannot refuse if you want to leave this organization." The man said coolly as he stroked a Persian with his right hand. The man looked for any signs of fear or anger in the young man's eyes. Satisfied when he found neither, Giovanni continued with his proposal. "You see, there is a certain group we want you to infiltrate. We tried to capture the main target by the conventional means, but we quickly found that security has greatly increased since the time before I took my leave of absence. We decided that we need someone on the inside to lure the group into our trap. You will be well compensated. We are prepared to let you leave Team Rocket without any problems. We will also give you enough money to take care of your mother and siblings for ten years." Giovanni said, laying the deal on the table.

"I will do it. What will I need to do?" Joshua asked.

"Excellent, we will begin preparations immediately."

 **Caleb's POV**

We awoke early the next day. Katlyn began to pour everyone his or her food, and then she quickly fixed me another bottle to drink. We all quickly finished breakfast and were out the door by seven A.M.

The sun had barely come up by the time we had reached the outside. Most of the small town was still in its dormant state. Katlyn decided to let everyone stay out since there weren't any people around.

"So Zan, where are you from?" Katlyn asked as she tried to banish the silence.

" _None of your business."_ He replied gruffly. Katlyn began to pout quietly.

"Zan, you need to be nicer. She did save your life." Jack said from Katlyn's shoulder. Zan scowled but kept quiet. It didn't take long for us to reach Professor Oak's lab. It was just like the last time I was there. It was almost like a very large house on a hill with several smaller buildings scattered throughout the area. Katlyn quickly returned everyone aside from Lawrence and me; then knocked on the door. A young man about Katlyn's age opened the door.

"Hello, May I help you?" the man asked with a pleasant smile.

"Yes can I speak with Gary Oak please?" Katlyn asked as the door opened wider.

"Well you are in luck because I am he. Please come in and make yourself at home." Professor Gary Oak said as he opened the door even wider. Katlyn thanked him and walked through the door. Gary led us down a small hallway and into a room that faced each other. In the middle of the two couches was a rather large coffee table. Gary motioned toward one of the couches. Katlyn quickly accepted his offer and sat down. "Now what can I help you with? I assume you came here for more then a little chat."

"Yes sir, I came to see if I can register for a trainer ID, Professor." Katlyn said as Gary also sat down.

"Please, just call me Gary. Professor Oak was my Gramps. Anyway, so you want to become a trainer, correct?" I nodded. "Ok miss…"

"Katlyn." she interjected.

"Ok miss Katlyn, follow me back to the computer lab, and we will get you signed up." Gary said as he motioned for us to follow. We walked down a small hallway and quickly came up to a room that was filled to the brim with computer equipment. "This is where we sign up new trainers. The process is extremely quick so you will be able to start as soon as possible. Let's begin." Gary began to ask several questions; mostly things like date of birth, mother's maiden name father's name, how many siblings I have, and if I already had a Pokémon or not. The process took no more then ten minutes, and after getting Katlyn's picture, Gary had printed out an official trainer ID. "Ok, before you leave, you should know that in order to keep that ID you will need to collect at least three gym badges within a year. It's our way of making sure that certain privileges are not abused by people. Here is your Pokedex, ten pokeballs, and ten potions. Also, here is a map that shows where all of the gyms, trainer routes, and conventional highways are. I hope you have a great journey." Gary smiled as he handed the supplies to Katlyn. She quickly pocketed the items, thanked Gary then left.

Katlyn held the ID in her hand as we walked through town. She seemed to be in a mixed state of disbelief and happiness.

"I never thought that I would see the day where I would walk out of that building with a trainer ID in my hand. I always blamed trainers for the problems in the world. After all, all of those criminal gangs are filled with trainers." Katlyn said as she stared down at the card. Light bounced off the holographic Pokémon stamp as Katlyn adjusted the angle of the card.

"We should probably start heading towards the first town so we can get your first badge. We wouldn't want to lose that ID. It's what allows us get free beds and medical service at the Pokémon centers." Lawrence said as we stopped in front of the Pallet Town city gate. "We have three options. We can go back to Viridian City, we can head for the port south of here and go to Cinnabar Island, or we can head to Interstate 22 and head to that new training center that has just opened there."

"I'm pretty new to this so I think we should go to the training center. Besides, we can practice some of your moves there, Caleb." Katlyn decided.

"I wonder what moves I know. I wouldn't mind trying out a battle." I said thoughtfully. Katlyn pulled out her new Pokedex then pointed the little scanner lens at me.

"Scan complete. Pokémon species identified as Vulpix. Age: two weeks old. Weight: 15 pounds. Gender: male. This Pokémon is too young to battle. It does not know any moves, and is defenseless if attacked. Suggestion: begin training Vulpix when it turns six months old. You can begin teaching it moves if you wish, however, it is too young to be effective in battle." The small red device beeped. I felt my ears lower as I heard the news. Lawrence began to smirk slightly as Katlyn put the device away.

"Well, we can still practice some of the other's moves. So which way is it to the interstate?" Lawrence said with a smile. Katlyn pulled out the map. It really couldn't be considered a map as much as a GPS. It was a small, thin box with a screen and a few buttons. Katlyn turned it on and keyboard appeared on the screen. She quickly typed in the interstate's name then the device showed us the quickest way to get there. Katlyn, Lawrence, and I began walking down the path.

"I don't like this. There is a reason that this shortcut is never used you know." I said as we began to cut through the woods.

"Look, there is nothing wrong with these woods. They are just a bunch of trees. If you want, I can let Zan out and he can convince you that there is nothing out here." Katlyn said as she grabbed Zan's ball from her belt. She tossed it and Zan came out with a bright flash of light. Zan immediately went into a defensive posture.

" _There is something wrong with these woods. I sense that a great power abides here. We should leave as soon as possible. This power is evil."_ Zan said as soon as he exited the Pokeball. The way he said it sent chills down my spine.

"It looks like I have some customers in my little shop of horrors. Welcome to the freak show!" a voice laughed menacingly. Zan's fur had stiffened until they were as sharp as needles. Out of the side of my vision, I saw a dark shape zooming through the trees. "It has been so long since I have seen a human walk through my domain. I'm going to have to make this special. Now, what to do, what to do. Awe yes I haven't tried this one out in along time, you even brought something that will give me enough power to pull this off." The sinister voice laughed. The dark shadow jumped from the surrounding trees, but I couldn't track where it landed. My fur stood on end as I nervously searched for the creature. "Boo!" the creature screamed from behind me. I took off towards Katlyn and jumped into her arms out of fright. Katlyn wasn't ready for me and was knocked to the ground by my jump. Lawrence and Zan took up defensive stances and waited for the creep to appear. They stood with their backs to each other as a way to watch each other's backs. Zan's ears twitched with every single leaf that rattled in the wind, and Lawrence's eyes shifted every time a twig snapped.

"I don't need you little fire fox. Nighty, night." The shadowy creature somehow spawned from Zan and Lawrence's shadow. It shrouded itself in a thick cloud of dark energy it raised its dark clouded arm the swung it at Lawrence's side. The hit sent a dazed Lawrence straight into a tree, completely knocking him out. "Now let's say we get down to business shall we. You are the first human in nearly three years to come through this way, so I am going to savor this moment. However, since it has been three years, I'm going to need to get some extra energy for this particular moment. This is where you come in, Jolteon. You are going to be my power source. So hit me with your best shot." The ghost-like creature laughed as it dematerialized in front of my very eyes. Katlyn stared in disbelief as the creature reappeared a few feet away from Zan. The creature, still shrouded in its cloud of darkness, charged at Zan. Zan must have been expecting the charge and launched a ginormous thunderbolt directly at the creature. Through the darkness, I could see a large smirk shine through the creature's mask. The creature jumped into the air and allowed the blast to pass underneath it. The creature smirked again as it began to glow with a dark purple hue. At the same time, Zan also began to glow with the same purple hue. When the glow stopped, Zan was standing there as if nothing had happened.

"What did it just us?" Katlyn asked as she fumbled around with Basilisk's Pokeball.

"It used disable. That means unless Zan has another powerful electric move, he can't use any other electric moves." I said shallowly. Zan also seemed to realize this and allowed his fur to stiffen to its sharpest point. He launched the pins at the shadow, but instead of moving out of the way of the needles, the shadow stepped in front of them. The ghost took every single needle without even flinching.

"I am going to make a deal with you Jolteon. If can manage to hit me with any other attack then just those sorry excuses for a pin missile attack, then I will show you my true form." The shadow tormented. Zan fell for the torment and shot a weak Thundershock that the ghost easily dodged. Zan, who was still under the effect of the torment attack, launched another pin missile attack.

"Why is he only using those two attacks? He should know more shouldn't he?" Katlyn whispered to me.

"He probably does know more attacks, but he is only using the moves he is most familiar with. It's like learning a second language. You learn it, but you still use the language you are most familiar with." I whispered back. By now, the ghost had absorbed the pin missile attack. After several minutes of the ghost dodging the Thundershocks and absorbing pin missiles, Zan came up with an idea. He charged electricity through his fur then launched several electrified needles. When he did this, I realized that he had escaped the effects of torment and disable. The electrified needles flew through the air and the shadow prepared to absorb them. Suddenly, the collection of flying needles unleashed their electrical payload at the ghost. The ghost didn't seem to understand what was happening and didn't try to dodge the attack, and the thunderbolt hit full force.

"That was quite the trick, Jolteon. To bad it really only tickled. However, a deal is a deal. He we go!" the shadow laughed sinisterly. The dark cloud that surrounded the creature suddenly blew away like a frag grenade. The creature stood in the middle of the battleground. It had unnaturally long arms that ended in three fingered hands. It was dark grey all over except for its purplish-pink eyes. It had three short spikes that sat on its head, like horns. There was a very large ribbon that seemed to zigzag to the ground. Its mouth was covered by a gold zipper, and it had a yellow spiked ball for a tail. Finally, its legs were very short and stubby, but after seeing this Pokémon fight, I knew that its legs was just a ruse. Katlyn pulled out her Pokedex, which instantly began to beep out its analysis.

"Banette, the marionette Pokémon. Banette generates energy for laying strong curses by sticking pins into its own body. This Pokémon was originally a pitiful plush doll that was thrown away."

"Well, it looks like my secret is out. I guess I should finish the job." The Banette chuckled darkly. It raised its arms above its head and a large ball of dark energy grew in the air above. Then the Banette jumped into a shadow and disappeared. Zan looked around cautiously and waited for anything to happen. The sinister chuckle of the Banette seemed to taunt Zan as he searched for his target.

"Zan, behind you!" Katlyn yelled but it was too late. The Banette jumped from one of the shadow fragments he had used and struck Zan with a powerful shadow claw. The Banette flew up in the air and began to laugh as he threw the shadow ball he had charged earlier at the falling Jolteon with his left hand. The ball flew in an arch then slammed into Zan. The blast caused dust, leaves, and dirt to fly everywhere. When the dust cleared, Zan was on the ground unconscious. The Banette began to laugh like a lunatic as he examined the damage he had caused.

"Now that I had my little energy boost and now that that Jolteon is out of the way, it's time to decide what curse to use on you." It smiled as it floated towards Katlyn and me. I tried to growl and be as threatening as possible, but all that came out was a low whimper. Katlyn struggled to get Basilisk's Pokeball loose but she was way too scared to detach it correctly. Katlyn stopped trying to detach the ball, reached over to her left pocket, and pulled out the can of mace she had bought back in Pewter City. She aimed it at the Banette then pressed the trigger. The liquid sprayed all over the Banette, which in return started to cover its face as it wildly scratched at its eyes. It screeches of pain turned into screeches of evil laughter.

"Did you really think that some silly human contraption is going to do anything to me? That is just pathetic." It cackled. "Now, what kind of curse should I place on you? A transformation? Nah that is used too much. How about a disease curse? No, that is to boring. How about I curse you into a bottle that would be funny, to bad I don't have a trophy case." The creep grinned.

"No, I'm too young to be stuffed inside a bottle for eternity!" Katlyn sobbed silently. Katlyn's plea just caused the Banette's grin to grow.

"Wow a human that can understand Pokémon. Now that is something special. Well, I will keep your plea under advisement." The Banette seem to be thinking about more ways he could curse Katlyn when his smile grew even wider and crueler.

"Why thank you my dear, you have given me a wonderful idea. Ah, how I missed the good old days when the owner of this doll played everyday with it, but then she grew up and tossed it out. That was when I found it and possessed it. I remember it as if it was yesterday. You must have had an interesting childhood. How would you like to be that young and free again?" it asked evilly. Katlyn began to speak but the haunted doll shushed her.

"Of course you would love to be that young again. If you didn't I would have to curse into a Magikarp or a Weedle or something. Well, here goes nothing. Enjoy the ride." it winked. Its hands began to glow a deep red as he floated over towards Katlyn she tried to move but couldn't. I jumped to my feet, which instantly felt like Jell-O.

"Leave my sister alone!" I yelled angrily as I jumped at the Banette. It didn't even look at me as I sailed through it. I tried again and again but couldn't damage him whatsoever. It was as if it wasn't even there. He was by Katlyn now who still was paralyzed with fear. Then the Banette plunged its hands into my sister's chest. The process was almost instant. Katlyn began to shrink rapidly she went from her normal five foot eight height to four foot three then she stopped at about three feet ten inches. While she shrank, her arms and feet shrunk simultaneously to fit their new age. Her hair quickly shortened to about shoulder height, then her chest suddenly went flat. The Banette sighed disappointedly as he withdrew his hands, which had lost their red glow.

"I was hoping that I had little more juice then that. Oh well, that is good enough. See you around kid. Hahaha." The Banette laughed as it disappeared into the shadows. "If I catch you in my woods again. I will regress you to a human toddler."

"Katlyn? Are you ok?" I asked as I approached her clothing. I heard soft crying from beneath the pile of clothes. A small hand shot up and slapped me upside the head. I reeled back a bit, but wasn't extremely hurt by the hit.

"It's all your fault, Caleb. If you hadn't of become a trainer, none of this would be happening." She said in a childish voice.

"I was the one who wanted to avoid this section of the woods, but you wanted to get there faster so you didn't listen to me. Everyone said not to go this way but you didn't listen. So don't blame me for your own stupidity." I yelled. Katlyn sat up, her shirt only managed to cover her left shoulder while it slid off her right shoulder. She looked exactly the way she did when she was about six or seven years old.

"Look, we should head back to Pallet town. We are only an hour away. We can go to Professor Oak and see what he can do, ok?" I asked. Katlyn nodded. Then began to tighten the Pokebelt around her waist to keep her pants from falling down. After returning Zan and picking up Lawrence, we began to trudge back to Pallet town.

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I hope you enjoyed the chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. After reading for nearly two years on this site, I have noticed that there were plenty of stories on people to Pokémon, Pokémon to people and other kind of transformation fics. So I decided that I would add something I hadn't seen in forever. After talking to one of my friends, he suggested doing an AR (age regression) and since I had already planned for something bad to happen to Katlyn, it fit perfectly. This will actually help later on in the story. I picked Banette for this chapter because let's face it, Mew and Ninetales is over used quite a bit. That and the fact that Banettes use pins to generate energy for curses, made sense when fighting Zan. On to other things. You guys are one chapter behind me now, so I will start publishing whenever I get a chapter done. So if I don't publish on the regular days it is because I am still working on the chapter. I have one more thing to discuss. I would like for you guys to send in a description for an OC, but he must be about ten years old. Send in a physical description, a description of their personality, and what their starter Pokémon will be. I would prefer that this character be a boy for this particular role but I may take a female character depending on how detailed the character is. I will only take highly detailed characters. I already have a backstory in place that I think you will like, so you won't have to worry about any history. You can send in the description through a pm or a review, although I prefer that it's sent through pm. If you have anything to say just leave a review. If you like how the story is going be sure to hit that favorite/follow button. This is shieldliger001 signing off


	12. Chapter 12

Hello everyone, and happy Fourth of July to everyone who lives here in the U.S. I have accepted an OC from Eaglepath, and he'll be appearing in the next chapter. I'd like to thank everyone for his or her support for this story. This story is only half as long as Two Brothers, and yet it's getting even more support! This is going to be the last scheduled chapter. So I will be updating whenever I get a chapter done. As a quick reminder, I do not own Pokémon but the characters are all mine aside from Zan who belongs to Rayrudan, and Sam who is the OC that was submitted to me by Eaglepath. Now on to the reviews

BYoshi1993: thanks, I thought that this would definitely set my story apart from the average TF story, and hopefully it did just that. Also, I wanted it to be kind of like a one-step forward, two steps back scenario. Katlyn finally gets the trainer ID, but she can't use it because she is now too young. This is where Eagle's OC comes in though he won't be introduced until the chapter after this.

On with the story! This quote will not be about this chapter today. This quote will be for the independence that our soldiers fight for every day.

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 **America's fighting men and women sacrifice much to ensure that our great nation stays free. We owe a debt of gratitude to the soldiers that have paid the ultimate price for this cause, as well as for those who are blessed enough to return from the battlefield unscathed.**

 **Allen Boyd.**

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 **Chapter 12**

 **Katlyn's POV**

We trudged along the path that we had originally taken. It was hard going now that my shoes were a lot larger then my feet. Everything seemed so big compared to the feeling of being an adult. Even people seemed unnaturally large now that I lost nearly two feet of my height. Caleb hadn't said much since our short argument. I still had on my backpack and I was carrying Lawrence who was still unconscious from the Banette. With that being said, it was hard going. If I didn't accidentally launch my shoe, my shirt nearly fell down. All of my clothes were way too big for me now. We passed by the gates of Pallet town after several hours of me trying to keep my shoes on.

"We should head to Professor Oak's lab before it gets too dark. There are strict curfews in place for children under the age of ten." Caleb said quietly.

"I'm not some little kid, you know. We will be fine." I replied. I was trying to get use to the sound of my now childish voice.

"I know that, but everyone else won't. They will only see some little kid with a bunch of pokeballs. We are going to have to be more careful then when you were twenty. We just need to explain the situation to Professor Oak." Caleb said quietly. We began to walk back towards the lab.

It was still about midday by the time we reached the center of Pallet Town. Everything in the town seemed to have grown several feet from my new point of view. Even Caleb seemed to be a little bigger then he had been a few hours ago. People began to stare at me as we went down the crowded streets. I could see the lab on its usual place and instantly became excited. I took off toward the lab with Caleb by my side and Lawrence in my arms. In my glee of finally reaching our destination, I ran into a very tall Police Officer.

"Little girl, where are you parents?" he asked in stern tone. The man instantly struck fear into my heart. When I didn't answer, he reached down and grabbed my wrist, then with his free hand picked up Lawrence. "I better take you in, just to be safe."

"Leave me alone! I don't want to go into the police station!" I screamed shrilly. Deep inside my mind, I couldn't help but feel embarrassed that that sort of cry came out of my mouth. The officer didn't let go and began to walk toward a police car that was parked in front of a gas station. As we approached the car, I decided that I should act my age in a situation like this. So, I began to scream and cry. I squirmed and wriggled as hard as I could but the officer paid no heed. We had almost reached the car when I decided to use my last resort.

"Basilisk, help me!" I cried as I grabbed a Pokeball with my free hand. As the usual flash disappeared, instead of the six-foot long snake appearing, Jack appeared. "Oh crap." I muttered as the mouse looked at me in confusion.

"Katlyn? Is that you?" he asked in surprise.

"Yes, it's me. I will explain later, just help me get away from this creep!" I shouted. The officer, who was stunned by this turn of events, recovered then pulled out his own Pokeball. Before he could use it, Jack jumped up and bit the officer's hand, causing the officer to drop the ball. Jack scampered back to me and climbed onto my shoulder. The cop still held on to Lawrence, so I grabbed another Pokeball, hoping that this time it was Basil's Pokeball. It was. The large snake looked around in surprise, until his eyes fell on Caleb.

"Where is my mistresss? Sshe didn't abandon her loyal bondsman to sssome child did ssshe, Bite sssize?" the Arbok asked in full-blown panic.

"That child is Katlyn. Don't ask, we will explain it later. Just grab Lawrence and let's get out of here!" Caleb ordered. Basil quickly did what he was told. The cop was so scared that he just let Lawrence go. Basilisk took the advantage and picked Lawrence up in his mouth.

"Come on we need to go before more cops show up!" I yelled. With that, we took off.

"I need an APB on a young girl. She seems to be about seven with light brown hair and blue eyes. She has at least four Pokémon on her and has just attacked a cop. Over." The cop spoke into his shoulder mike as he chased after us. I didn't care if the cops were after me. They weren't going to stop me from getting a few answers. I began to run towards the lab again when I heard the sound of a siren in the distance. They quickly grew closer and I realized that we were going to be caught if we stayed in the open like this. So I led everyone into a dimly lit alley. I quickly returned Jack. I even put Caleb inside his Pokeball so I could think without him criticizing me. I laid my backpack on the ground and pulled out some of the supplies we had bought in Pewter City. I then grabbed a bag that was filled with large green leaves. I don't know what the actual name of the leaves is so, like everyone else, I just call them revival herbs. I feed one of the leaves to Lawrence, who bolted straight into the air. It wasn't long before he began to spit the leaves out from his mouth.

"The Banette got you, didn't it Katlyn." Lawrence said as he became fully conscious. I nodded then returned Basilisk to his ball. "How long was I out?"

"About two or three hours." I answered.

"Two or three hours! Why didn't you revive me sooner?" Lawrence shouted.

"I forgot I had the revival herb. Ok? It isn't as if I meant to keep you knocked out!" I yelled back. Lawrence stood up then turned around to look at me.

"I see that the Banette did quite the number on you. I'm sorry that I wasn't able to help protect you." Lawrence apologized. I nodded and gave him a quick hug.

"This way men! We need to check the alleys!" a voice yelled. I didn't even look at Lawrence before I took off. I knew he would follow along. As we ran through the alley, my foot slipped out of my shoe and launched me forward. I fell to the ground in a very rough manner. I skimmed up both my legs and banged my chin on the cold, hard concrete. For the second time that day, I began to cry. I really couldn't stop myself. The pain hurt too much for me to ignore it. Lawrence tried to calm me down. Tried to keeping me from making to much noise, but the more he comforted me, the more I cried.

"Sir, I hear something down here!" a voice yelled. The sound of boots running down the alleyway came crashing into my head. The sounds woke me up from my outburst and I immediately got up and began to run. As I looked back, I could see flashlights being waved around as the men holding them ran after me. When I returned my gaze in front of me, I did the exact thing that got me into this mess. I ran straight into another police officer. The officer's hand quickly ensnared mine. I quickly tried to squirm my way loose but the officer picked me up in such a way that made my efforts pointless. Lawrence growled at the man and seemed as though he was ready to fry the guy. I sighed and shook my head no, as the man easily hoisted me around.

"Sir, I caught her sir!" the officer yelled as he began to walk towards the rest of the group.

"Good work Davis. Let's head back to the station, and get this young'un some help." The head officer said cheerfully.

"Someone grab her pokeballs. That little runt has some serious fire power on her belt." The officer from earlier grumbled as he massaged his hand.

"Oh yes, you told us all about the crazy mouse that had six inch long teeth, and claws that could shred through Kevlar if given the chance, John. You do have a good point though." the commanding officer laughed. The rest of the officers also laughed as the officer named John unclipped all of my pokeballs. The officer, which held me, put me down and grabbed my small hand. I tried to squirm out of his grip but in the end gave up. One of the other four officers picked up Lawrence and carried him out of the alley. After half an hour of running from the cops, they succeeded in catching me.

"I'm impressed that you managed to hide as long as you did. You are a pretty smart little girl aren't ya?" the officer smiled as he opened the back door of the police cruiser. I didn't say a word, which seemed to make the officer slightly disappointed.

"Technically, you are supposed to be in a booster seat, but since we don't normally pickup children we will have to bend the rules slightly, so don't tell anyone ok?" the officer asked as he buckled my seat belt. I couldn't help but to smile slightly. The officer placed Lawrence next to me then, climbed into his seat and started the car.

The traffic was terrible as we tried to get through the crowded streets. It wasn't as bad as Saffron City, but it was still ridiculous. The officer spent his time in the car trying to keep me comfortable by telling me about his family. He had a son that was ten and a daughter that had just went into elementary school. After what felt like hours, we finally made it to the police station. I acted a little better since there was no way I was going to get away from the cops. The police station was a simple brick building. It was nowhere near as fancy as the one in Saffron City, but it seemed to do its job nicely. We walked through a set of double doors and into a lobby area. We walked into the back where there was a short hallway. At the end of the hallway were two doors. The door on the left lead to jail cells and the interrogation rooms. We took the door to the right, which led to a bunch of desks and other things. The officer led me to a desk that was set in the corner of the room. He pulled up a chair for me, which I gladly sat down. Lawrence jumped up on my lap and looked up at me.

"Ok munchkin, I'm going to need you to tell me your name, age, and where you are from, is that ok?" the officer asked as he pulled out a notepad. I was really starting to hate being seven or eight again with all the names people have been giving me, but then again they didn't know that I'm supposed to be twenty.

"My name is Kate, and I am from Saffron City." I said. The officer quickly jotted the information then looked at me expectantly.

"Look sweetie, we are going to need you to cooperate with us, if we are going to find your parents." The officer said sternly. The pressure of his gaze made me sink down in my chair.

"Katlyn, just tell him that you are seven, and be done with it." Lawrence mumbled.

"I'm seven years old," I whispered. "About to turn eight."

"Ok, good. What is your address in Saffron?"

"It doesn't matter anymore. Both my parents died last week. I was brought here, so I could stay with my Uncle Gary. When I got here, I got lost." I whimpered as I began to cry.

"There, there it's alright. Do you know your uncle's last name? If you do, then we might be able to track him down for you." The cop comforted.

'I guess drama club really did prepare me for the future.' I laughed in my mind.

"I don't remember. I think my mommy said that it was like a type of tree, but I don't remember." I sniffled.

"You aren't talking about Gary Oak are you? You are Gary's niece?" the cop asked in astonishment.

"Yeah, that is Uncle Gary!" I nodded enthusiastically.

"I didn't realize that Gary had a niece. How about I call Gary and while I am on the phone, you can ask Mrs. Sharyn to get you a snack from the vending machines over there." I nodded and got up from my chair. Lawrence walked beside me toward the lady.

"Man Katlyn, I didn't know you knew how to act. You almost had me fooled." He complimented. I couldn't help but to smile.

"I used to be in a drama club when I was in college. They had us doing all sorts of things to help us refine our acting." I whispered back down to the fox.

The women named Sharyn was very nice. She took me to the vending machines and let me pick out whatever I wanted. Even though I had made a promise not to eat anything sweet in college, I couldn't help but to pick one of the candies on the top shelf of the vending rack. After I got the candy, I talked to Sharyn for a few minutes then headed back towards the police officer's desk.

"Kate, I have some bad news. I called the lab, and one of his assistants said that he went to investigate something at Mount Moon, and he won't be back for about a week. While you were over by the vending machines, I called my boss. He said that you could stay at my house until your uncle gets back, since he didn't want to deal with the paperwork that the child protective services give out." The officer smiled. I felt dread wash over me, but I tried not to show it. Apparently, I didn't do a good job because the officer let out an audible sigh. "Look, I know you just want to be with your uncle, but I can't just let you go over to an empty lab. I promise we won't try to pretend to be family or anything like that but will you give us a try until your uncle gets back?" the officer asked sincerely.

"Will I get my Pokémon back? I don't want to leave without them." I asked. The officer nodded then opened up a drawer in his desk. He pulled out all four of my missing pokeballs and handed them back to me. How he had them, I have no idea but I was glad to have them back. I wanted to open them all up but I figured that it wouldn't be very appropriate.

"Thank you mister." I said with a shy smile. 'Acting like a kid is hard work. If I can ever get my hands on the Banette, I'm going to loosen a few of its stitches.' I thought angrily.

"Let me grab my keys and we will head to the house, alright kiddo?" I nodded and the cop grabbed his coat and a set of keys. He grabbed my hand then we walked out to the parking lot. Instead of making me sit in the back as he did last time, he let me sit in the front. By the time we had gotten onto the street, it was very dark. The clock on the dashboard read that it was only eight o'clock, but it felt as if it was later. After only a few minutes, I was sound asleep.

"Sweetie, wake up. We're here." A voice said as a hand lightly shook my shoulder.

"Daddy? Is that you?" I murmured in my sleep.

"No Honey, it is Officer Charlie, remember? I'm going to take you inside and find you a place to sleep, ok?"

"Ok."

 **Third Person POV**

"Are we ready to commence the test, Mitchel?" Giovanni asked as he slowly stroked the top of his Persian's head. Mitchel nodded and began to adjust several switches and buttons.

"What you are about to do is top secret. You cannot tell anyone, not even your family, Joshua." Giovanni said in a serious tone.

"What exactly am I doing?" the young man asked as he was being strapped to a table in Biotech lab 24.

"Did you not read the briefing files we gave you?" Giovanni asked in complete disbelief.

"You see sir; I kind of skimmed through it. I know that I am going to be spying on some group of Pokémon and that you want to capture them. I just don't remember how I am supposed to infiltrate the group." The young man answered. Giovanni looked at the younger man angrily then began to explain the plan in detail.

"The gist of it is that you will be deployed near or at the target's location. You will be injured, so they are forced to help you. Then they will take you with them. You will have a small transmitter implanted behind your ear. It will send us all of the information we need. Just be sure it doesn't get damaged or destroyed in any battles." When Giovanni mentioned battles, Joshua instantly had a questioning look on his face.

"You really did only skim the briefing didn't you?" Giovanni asked incredulously. Seeing Joshua give out a small nod, Giovanni gave out a loud sigh. "The morons I have working for me, and I said you were smart. Listen up; you are strapped to that table for two reasons. Reason number one, so you can get the transmitter implanted behind your left ear. Reason number two, so we can change your species." Giovanni whispered through gritted teeth. "We are using a machine that will switch you consciousness with a Pokémon's."

"Oh, like the Avatar movie, right?" Joshua asked excitedly.

"Sure, we will go with that. We will begin the procedure as soon as we get the track on the Jolteon."

"How long will that take?" Joshua asked.

"Within the hour, my friend. Within the hour."

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I hope ya'll liked the chapter. I thought it was really fun to write. I'd like to thank those of you who sent in an OC, it was very helpful. If anyone has any questions, don't forget to ask. If ya'll have anything to say, be sure to leave a review. If you are enjoying the story, then be sure to hit that favorite/follow button. This is shieldliger001 signing off and wishing everyone a great Fourth of July!


	13. Chapter 13

Hello everyone, shield here with a chapter fresh off of the assembly line. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. One more thing, OMAA has just received more reviews then Two Brothers, so I am giving everyone a big thumbs up for that. Thanks everyone for the support you have given for this story.

Philip Habindinger: Thanks for all of your support. I can say that I have had the same thing happen to me when I have read other stories myself. Thanks again and I hope you like this chapter. Oh and no problem with the Pichu.

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 **Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds you plant.**

 **Robert Louis Stevenson**

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 **Chapter 13**

 **Caleb's POV**

"Would you like some more pancakes Caleb?" my mom asked as I finished off the plate that was in front of me.

"No thanks mom, I'm full." I sighed happily, as I leaned back in my chair. I looked around at the room that surrounded me. It was an exact replica of my actual house. I got up from the kitchen table and walked around the house. Everything was the exact way I remembered it. I walked into the bathroom and looked into the mirror. The mirror was one of those full body mirrors that went from the floor to the ceiling. I looked into the mirror with a keen interest. I had my entire human body back. The only thing that reminded me that this wasn't real was the fact that my canines were larger then what a human's should have been. Other then that, the rest of my body was human. It felt wonderful to have my old body back. I didn't have the overpowering sense of smell that I had as a Vulpix, nor did I have the extremely sensitive hearing either. For once, I felt like myself. I opened the door to the bathroom and continued to literally stroll down memory lane.

The rest of the rooms were the way I remembered them. Katlyn's room was left just as mess as it was when she left for college. My room was still filled all of the awards and trophies I had received when in school.

"So this is how you spend your time in a Pokeball. Jack is the same way." A voice said behind me.

"Zan what are you doing here? How could you talk?" I asked in full panic mode. It was plain as day that Zan hated humans. He proves that every time he sees Katlyn. Zan chuckled lightly as he padded over to my bed.

"This is a Pokeball remember? I can imagine that nothing ever happened to me, just like what you are doing here."

"How do you know that I'm not just imagining this? How are you even here? I didn't think you up." I asked skeptically. Zan chuckled some more, obviously enjoying my confusion.

"You humans can be quite dumb, even though you all have built so much. You heard of Bluetooth correct?" I nodded, because everyone knows what that is. "The Pokeball run off the same concept. I'm not physical here however my mind is. If I'm released from my Pokeball, my mind will snap back to my physical body. The whole process is run wirelessly from the Pokedex. Now for your other question, there are two reasons I know that you aren't making this up. For one, you were pretty obvious about it. You couldn't tell a lie to save your life. The second reason is that you act older then you really are. That was the second dead give away." Zan explained.

"So what are you going to do to me? It isn't hard to tell that you do not like humans." I asked, a hint of fear escaped my voice.

"I am going to sit here and have a conversation with a human who has gone through something that would drive anyone insane. Despite my hatred for humans, I don't hate you anymore then I hate Jack."

"But, I'm human how could you hate Katlyn but not me?"

"Because you aren't human anymore. You may try to pretend that you are but you are not anymore. Tell me, do you feel human when you are outside this contraption? Do you look human? Do you even act human?" Zan asked seriously. I shook my head sadly to each of his questions. "So in general, you can't say that you are human correct?" I nodded. "Then you aren't human. Not anymore. You may be human in your mind, but on the outside, you are a two-week-old Vulpix. That is how I see it. I will never hate you for being formerly human, because to me you are not human. To me you are a very special Vul-." Before Zan could finish his speech, my world dissolved into a clear white explosion. It was as though my world was just disappearing. Then I felt a pulling sensation. I tried to resist, but I couldn't escape the pull's grasp. Soon I was swallowed by the white light and was sent into the bright void.

"Caleb, how are you feeling?" a voice asked. I couldn't tell who it was at first but as my vision and hearing cleared, I realized that it was Katlyn.

"Where are we?" I asked as I surveyed the room. It was obviously a bedroom seeing as how it had a bed sitting against the left wall. There was a single window to the right of the bed under the window there was a small cedar bedside table. Directly across from the bed was an open closet. The room in and of its self was relatively small, but I didn't care too much about that.

"We are at some cop's house. He brought me here after I got caught." I sent Katlyn a questioning look and she began to tell me about the chase, the police station and the ride to the cop's house.

"Have you met anyone else besides the cop?"

"No, when we got here everyone else was asleep. The officer brought me to this guest room and I went straight to bed. He gave me back the pokeballs so I could tell ya'll night and so I could explain to ya'll what was going on." Katlyn grabbed all of her other pokeballs from her belt and released the rest of the group.

After fifteen minutes of explaining what had happened over the last twelve hours, Katlyn let everyone have a few minutes to digest the information. Zan seemed as impassive as ever. Basil, looked as if he was going to faint, and Jack seemed to still be confused.

"So, what do ya'll have to say?" Katlyn asked as she nervously looked around the small room.

" _Doesn't change anything."_ Zan said gruffly. He then proceeded to finding a comfortable spot in a corner of the room to sleep in.

"What Zan means to say is that we will still help you. You helped us when we needed help, so we will help you when you need help." Jack said as he looked over at Zan disappointedly.

"Thanks Jack, what about you Basil?"

"I am ssstill your Bondsman. I will follow you until you decide otherwise, Mistress." The snake bowed. Katlyn smiled and told everyone to rest up for the night. Jack curled up at the foot of the bed, and Lawrence and I found a spot in the middle of a large rug on the floor. Basil slithered under the bed and coiled up. Katlyn, still wearing the same clothes she had worn all day, climbed into the large bed and quickly fell asleep.

 **Katlyn's POV**

The daylight came like a bombshell the next morning. I jolted out of bed as if the bed itself was alive. I quickly looked around the unfamiliar room and, at first, began to panic. Then all of the memories of the previous day came flooding back. Seeing that everyone else was still asleep, I quietly climbed out of bed and tip toed to the window. As I looked out the window, I saw that the house was situated in a small housing development. The room I was in was on the second floor. The entire area was filled with manicured lawns, and young trees. In the distance, I could see the small town of Pallet and its main attraction, the Pokémon lab. The sound of the door creaking open caused me to jump. In the doorframe stood a tall woman. She had blond hair, and lightly tanned skin. Her eyes were bright green. And she had a warm smile.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." The woman said as she closed the door behind her. "My name is Becky. Charlie, my husband, told me all about you Kate. I only came up to see if you wanted any breakfast."

"H-hi. T-thank you but I'm not hungry." I replied shyly. The woman smiled and sat on the bed.

"I know that what you have been through must be traumatizing, but you don't need to hold onto the past. How about you dress, and come down to the kitchen and at least meet everyone else? After all, they are dying to meet you." The woman smiled.

"These are all I have. I grabbed the wrong backpack when I ran out of the house. It burned down before anyone could bring anything else." I lied. I thought of telling the truth, but no one is going to believe that some little kid used to be twenty just the morning before. The woman looked at me with sympathy, and then she clasped her hands behind her back.

"I guess that means we will have to get you some clothes. After breakfast, we will go to the store. Does that sound alright?" she asked. I nodded then followed her down the stairs to the kitchen.

The kitchen was the usual setup with a sink and dishwasher sitting together. The stove and refrigerator were stashed between cabinets, and there was a small island in the center of the setup. There were two kids sitting at the island eating cereal. The younger one was a girl that seemed to be about five or six. The old one was a boy that seemed to be about ten or eleven. The boy had brown hair, which surprised me because his mother seemed to have almost bleached blond hair. His eyes were the same brilliant green as his mother's eyes. He lacked the slight tan skin, but you could tell that he and his mother were related.

"This here is Amy, and this is Samuel. Samuel, Amy, this is Kate. She will be staying with us until Professor Oak gets back from Mount Moon." Becky said as she introduced me to the two kids.

"When he gets back from Mount Moon! How long will that be?" Samuel yelled as soon as his mom finished.

"Samuel Alexander Mattlov, no yelling at the table. Do you understand me?" His mom said sternly. Samuel shuddered and sat back down in his chair. "The Professor said that he would be back in a week. That means next Tuesday. Is that specific enough Sam, or do I need to get the exact time for you. You have waited to be a trainer for the last two years. You can wait another week. It is not going to kill you. Now, I am going to the store. I will be taking Kate with me. I need you to watch your little sister, until I get back. That means that you actually watch her, ok?" Sam nodded. "Good. Kate, go get anything you need from your room. Then we will go." I quickly went upstairs and returned everyone to his or her respective Pokeball. I then had Lawrence follow me down the steps. Becky led us to her car. I sat in one of the seats and began to buckle when Becky stopped me. "I know that Charlie allowed you to sit in the back without a booster yesterday, but that was because he didn't have one. You need to be sitting in one of those until you are big enough." She said, as she set the booster seat in the spot that I would be sitting in. reluctantly I crawled into the seat and buckled up.

"It has been a long time, hasn't it Katlyn. Bet you didn't think you would need to ride in one of those again did you." Lawrence laughed quietly.

"At least I didn't have to be treated as a baby for an entire day." I whispered back. Lawrence let out a light, playful growl.

"Did you say something, Kate?" Becky asked.

"No, I was just talking to Lawrence." I said as I stroked Lawrence's head. Becky smiled then went back to driving.

"This is going to be a long week." I muttered.

 **Lawrence's POV**

The car ride was uneventful. Aside from listening to Katlyn, complain under her breath, there was nothing to do. After about fifteen minutes of driving, we pulled into a parking lot. Katlyn unbuckled and opened the door to get out. I jumped down from my seat and rushed out the door. We went inside the store and followed Becky to the clothing department.

"This is going to be embarrassing." Katlyn muttered as we passed racks of bright purples and pinks.

"I thought you liked shopping, Katlyn." I smirked.

"Yeah, well, you and Caleb ruined it for me back in Pewter City." She whispered back to me. I snickered a bit before we stopped and Becky began to pull down shirts, jeans, and other articles of clothing.

"Have fun Katlyn." I smirked.

 **Caleb's POV**

I sat inside my room and thought about what Zan had said. The question of whether I was human stuck as a Vulpix or a Vulpix stuck with a human mind, fought inside my mind.

"I see you are still questioning yourself. I can come back later." Zan said as he strolled through my door.

"No, please don't. I was just thinking. Zan why do you hate humans, not all of, er, them are bad." I asked as he jumped up onto my bed.

"I told you the story, haven't I?" I shook my head no and he sighed.

"I guess I should tell you then. It started five years ago." He began. I listened intently as he began to reminisce about his past.

"It's not like I hate all humans, but they must prove themselves to me first. Your sister is on a good path of proving herself to me, but I will not let up until she finally does prove herself. I can tell that you need to stop thinking about things for a while. Jack, you can come in now!" Zan said as the door opened. Instead of seeing a Pichu, there was a teen that seemed to be about my age.

"I probable shouldn't stay long, if you don't want me to." Jack said shyly.

That's ok. You can stay for as long as you want. I even have an idea on what we can do. Have you ever played Call of Duty Black Ops Zombies?" I asked. Jack shook his head no. "Well, I guess I will have to teach you as we go." I smiled. Suddenly the entire room changed into the exact replica of the starting room of Five. Before Jack could ask what happened, zombies began to break through one of the glass windows.

 **Lawrence's POV**

Katlyn kept coming out of the changing room in ridiculous outfits with flowers and other girlish things on them. At one point, she had a pair of pink overalls on with a white t-shirt. After every set of clothes, she was beginning to get angrier and angrier from my continual laughter. Finally, Becky pulled out all of the shirts, jeans, socks, and other things that Katlyn was missing and placed them in a shopping basket. She then held Katlyn's hand and led the way to another section of the store.

After the short trip across the store, we found ourselves in the shoe department. Katlyn began to look at all of the shoes she couldn't wear anymore. Unfortunately, for her, she was dragged back to reality.

"Here, try these on Kate." Becky said as she pulled down a box with white and pink tennis shoes in them. Katlyn sighed and tried on the shoes.

"They are to small." She said quietly. Becky smiled then grabbed the next size up. After a few minutes of trying on various pairs of shoes, Katlyn picked two pairs and placed them in the basket. We made one last journey through the store and ended up in the trainers section. We walked through the aisles until we found the belts. Becky found a smaller version of Caleb's belt then gave it to Katlyn.

"That one might fit better then the one you have. I'm sure that you want to become a trainer when you are older, right." Katlyn nodded her head and accepted the newer belt.

"I guess we should get back to the house. It's almost lunch time and I am sure that you are getting hungry." Katlyn nodded again and the woman smiled. We quickly checked out the clothes and headed back to the car.

 **Caleb's POV**

"Watch out! There is one behind you!" I yelled as a nova gas zombie tried to swipe at Jack. He quickly turned around and shot the zombie with a stakeout shotgun.

"I'm going to make a crawler. Do you need anything?" I asked as I cooked a grenade.

"No, I don't think so. Man, I never knew that there was a game like this. I didn't even know we could play video games inside the Pokeball."

"I didn't either. It was just an idea. If the Pokeball can recreate memories, then it can recreate memories of video games. Let's see, next round is round 15, which means, it is the pentagon thief round. That is going to be awesome!" I yelled excitedly.

"Pentagon thief?" Jack asked with a worried look.

"Yeah, he is really fast and if he catches you he steals your gun. What's wrong?" I asked as Jack's face went pale. "He is right behind me isn't he?" Jack nodded as I was spun around. Right when the boss grabbed my gun, there was a blinding white light.

"Katlyn! What did you do that for? We were on the boss round! Wait, what the heck are you wearing?" I yelled as my vision cleared. The first thing I saw was Katlyn dressed in pink overalls that had a heart on the left pocket. She wore a white t-shirt that had half of a large flower in the center of it. And she had her hair pulled up into two pigtails.

"You can play video games in there?" Katlyn asked as she tried to avoid my question.

"Katlyn, I don't know what is worse, being a baby Vulpix, or dressing up as a baby" I laughed hysterically. During my laughing fit, I saw Lawrence in the same position as me, Zan with a huge smirk on his face, Jack turning pale, and Basilisk trying his hardest not to laugh.

"Bite sssize, I will dessstroy you if you don't ceassse your laughter." He said in a forced serious tone. I could tell that he was about to break so I went over to him and motioned for him to lean towards me. I whispered a few things to him about when Katlyn was that age the first time to him, and true to my prediction, he cracked. His laughter nearly scared the lights out of me. It was flat out hideous, but it was still a laugh. Suddenly, I got wacked upside the head. The hit caused Psyducks to start spinning in my head. Katlyn stood above me. I could see the fires of revenge burning in her eyes. She began to kneel down when the door swung open.

"My mom told me to come get you so we can eat. We are having pizza." A young boy said nonchalantly. He quickly turned around and stomped down the stairs.

"Who was that guy?" I asked as I shook the rest of the Psyducks out of my head.

"That is Sam. You had better thank him for saving your tail, because I was about to set Basilisk on you. I'm going to eat. I will feed ya'll when I come back up." Katlyn said through gritted teeth. "Oh and Caleb? Be sure to enjoy this time while you can, because when I come back you are going to wish you hadn't of said anything." With that, she walked away. I gulped and began to search for a place to hide.

 **Third Person POV**

"Sir! We got an update from our contacts. They say that they have spotted the target, at the west end of Pallet Town. Although, the woman the target was with seems to have disappeared. The target has been seen yesterday with a young girl that seems to be about seven or eight years old." An analyst confirmed as he handed a report to Giovanni himself.

"Good, do you know of the target's present position?" The tall man asked as he flipped through the report.

"Not quite sir. We have a reasonable guess but we are not one hundred percent sure." The analyst said confidently. Just by looking at the young analyst, Giovanni could tell that the man was anything but confident.

"What is your approximation?" Giovanni asked with an annoyed sigh.

"We believe that the target is staying at the residences of one Officer Charlie Kirk. We have a full file on him and his family already compiled if you would like to look at them sir."

"Why are you not one hundred percent sure on this matter! This subject was part of an extremely important research operation!" Giovanni shouted.

"T-the officer m-made four stops b-before our agent lost him. It was so dark that our agents couldn't tell if t-the girl g-got out or not." The analyst's answer seemed to be acceptable by Giovanni.

"What were the four places?" Giovanni asked slowly as if he were trying to make himself clear.

"A Stop-and-Shop on main street, the First Catholic Church of Kanto, the Holy church of Arceus, and a house at 5841 Digger Avenue." Analyst said quietly.

"Send some of our men to investigate each of those for locations. We cannot spy on the cop's house directly, since he is a cop, and will have a sixth sense about being watched. Make sure to bug the officer's phones at his office. I want the full package."

"Yes sir. Right away sir." The analyst snapped off a salute and hurried off to carryout his orders.

"yes, I will have my money's worth for this project." He said in a dark tone.

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As usual, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. For everyone's information, I do not own CoD: BOZ (Call of Duty: Black Ops Zombies for those of you who don't know.) The idea of playing video games inside a Pokeball is my idea. It's probable not mine originally, but I haven't seen anyone do the same thing yet. I hope you all found that idea as appealing as I did. Anyways, be sure to leave a review if you have anything to say. Also be sure to hit that favorite/follow button if you are enjoying the story. Until next time, shieldliger001 signing off.


	14. Chapter 14

Hello everyone, shield here. I am so sorry that I took so long on this chapter. I am in Houston right now visiting relatives so I have had very little time to work on this chapter. Also, I had to use my IPad to write this because my netbook died and I left the adaptor at my house. Enough said, thanks for all of your support for this story.

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 **If pleasures are greatest in anticipation, just remember that this is also true of trouble.**

 **Elbert Hubbard**

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 **Chapter 14**

 **Katlyn** **'** **s POV**

I spent a little time down stairs before I returned to the guest room. Amy was nice for a girl her age. She asked me to play with her for a while, but I didn't know how to react since I really wasn't seven. She thought that I was ignoring her and went elsewhere to play. Sam was your average ten-year-old trainer wannabe. He didn't look at me at all while I was downstairs. He had his head stuck in a book about being a trainer. He also had I very short temper. When I tried to talk to him, he would yell for me to go away and lift the book higher in front of his face. Eventually, I was fed up with his attitude and walked back to the guest room.

The rest of the day went by slowly while I was in the guest room. The only thing that happened was that Caleb got stuck his head stuck between some of the boards of footboard of the bed. Why he decided that he should put his head there was beyond me but he was my brother so I had to help him. After that incident, I watched a few movies on my tablet that I had packed away in my bag. Some of the movies, I'm sure; the adults would have problems with, if they had caught me. After a quick dinner, I went to bed.

The next few days were the same as the first, minus the trip to the store. Everyday I would put on the clothes that Becky had bought and everyday Lawrence or Caleb would crack a joke. As time wore on, the jokes began to become less and less frequent and I became more accustomed to wearing the ridiculous clothing. I almost forgot what I needed to do the next Tuesday if it weren't for Sam. I was downstairs sitting on a leather couch, watching the news with Officer Charlie.

"Hey Dad, I'm going to go say goodbye to the Winstons before I forget." Sam said as he rushed towards the door.

"Hold on Sam, I need to talk to you right quick. When you go to the Lab tomorrow, I need you to take Kate with you. Your mother would do it, but Amy had a doctor's appointment that she couldn't reschedule in time and I have work tomorrow."

"But Dad," he whined. "She will only slow me down. Besides, can't you take her after work?"

"I can't take her because tomorrow is when I get home from the station late. This is not a discussion. I already made the arrangements." Officer Charlie said sternly. Sam let out an audible groan then stomped out of the house.

"What's wrong with Samuel? He seemed to be a little upset." Becky asked as she came through the door Sam had just slammed shut.

"He is mad because I told him that he would have to take Kate with him to the lab."

"Honey, wouldn't taking her to the lab count as police business?" his wife asked as she brought in a bag of groceries.

"Yes, but the sergeant has me assigned to court duty tomorrow, and we only have a few others on duty tomorrow. He said that Kate doesn't take priority." Officer Charlie replied.

"Well, you better talk to him or he'll be a big pain to everyone." Becky replied as she stepped into the kitchen. Charlie nodded and we continued to watch the news.

After a few hours, I went upstairs to my room. I got my clothes all packed up and stashed the clothes I couldn't wear under the bed. Lawrence and Caleb were talking about who knows what, and the rest of the gang were sleeping or on the way to sleeping. As I packed, there was a light knock on the door. I half expected it to be Becky or Amy, so when I turned to see who it was I was surprised to see that it was Sam.

"My parents are going out for the evening. They said that you need to be downstairs so I can watch you." He said as he began to shut the door.

"You want to be a trainer right?" I asked.

"Yeah? What of it?"

"I just thought you would like to see some of my Pokémon. They are friendly, most of the time." I said as I pointed towards all of the Pokémon that surrounded me. Sam's eyes lit up a bit, and he came in and shut the door.

"This is Lawrence and Caleb. As you can see, they are both Vulpix." I said as the two strolled over towards Sam. He smiled as he pet Lawrence. He tried to pet Caleb, but he didn't want anything to do with it. "This is Jack, he is a Pichu. And he is very friendly." Jack jumped up onto my shoulder and did a little wave, which caused Sam to smile even more. "That over there is Zan. He is obviously a Jolteon. You need to be careful with him because he can have quite the attitude." Right when I said that, Sam reached down to pet him. Zan's fur instantly hardened into pins causing Sam to pull back his hand immediately.

"What's his problem?" Sam asked as he massaged his hand.

"He doesn't care much for people. He'd rather be left alone. This last one is named Basilisk." As if on queue, the large Arbok sprung out from his hiding spot. The sudden appearance of the snake caused Sam to nearly jump out of his skin. I couldn't help but to laugh. Sam blushed for a bit before he decided to examine the large reptile. After a while, we began to talk about Pokémon. We spent fifteen minutes or so, before we headed downstairs. For once, I felt that I had something that I could talk about with someone else.

 **Third Person POV**

Giovanni looked confidently at the new report he had received. It had said that the girl they were after would be headed to the Pokémon Lab in Pallet.

"Did you have the shipment of the new starters stopped?" he asked as he continued to read the report.

"Yes sir, we stopped the truck at the western checkpoint. We are only awaiting your orders to continue the operation." An analyst replied.

"Good. You may continue with the operation. Tell Doctor Mitchel to continue with his procedure." Giovanni ordered.

"Yes sir. Right away, sir." The analyst said as he hurried away to complete his task.

 **Third Person POV**

 **Biotech lab 24**

"Tell Giovanni that the procedure will be complete within the hour." Mitchel told the messenger as he began to attach heart rate monitors and brain wave monitors to Joshua Marik.

"Mr. Marik, you should fill honored. You are one of the few people this procedure has been tested. You are making history." Dr. Mitchel said happily, as he applied adhesive patches to the younger man's forehead and upper chest.

"The only reason I'm doing this is so I can get out of this place for good. I tried all of the legal ways to get the money I need, and that didn't work. I hate this place but I will do anything for my family." Joshua replied as he began to fidget on the examination table.

"You are different than the regular shmucks that come here just to wreak havoc. You actually care for something besides yourself. That is a good characteristic in a man. Be sure you keep that trait. It will serve you well when you are free from this place." Mitchel replied as he finished hooking up the patches to the machines.

"How about you Doc? How did you get into this sorry excuse of an organization?"

"Now you are taking me back. It really started about twenty years ago. I worked at the Kanto Institute of Theoretical Science. I was studying the theories of the famous scientist, Jordan Hawk. One day, I made a breakthrough on one of his theories about the human brain. My supervisor didn't like what I was studying. He said that it was to dangerous to study. I told them that I wouldn't quit my research when I was so close to solving the riddles of the human brain. So, they let me go. Soon after, Team Rocket contacted me. They said that they would allow me to continue my research if I helped them on a few science projects. I quickly agreed." Mitchel explained. "We are ready to start the procedure. Basically, I'm going to put you to sleep and when you wake up you, you will find yourself in another body. When you see the girl, that is when your mission begins. There have been some small changes to the plan. You are going to be sent to the Pokémon Lab in Pallet Town. Are you ready?" Joshua nodded as Doctor Mitchel injected a strong sedative. Within seconds, Joshua was out cold.

Doctor Mitchel walked to a specimens holding block, and looked at the candidates for the finally parts of the procedure.

"Let's see here. We will want something that is strong or can become strong. Since that kid is going to the lab, I'm assuming she is getting a trainers ID. I guess we should use a starter Pokémon." Doctor Mitchel muttered under his breath. He searched and searched ever Pokéball for one of the three common starters, but couldn't find a single one.

"I guess I will have to go with a nonstandard starter. The Oaks have been known to give out rare Pokémon as starters. Aw, here we go. This one will due, just fine." Mitchel smiled as he picked up a Pokéball and headed back to his lab.

 **Caleb's POV**

Today is the day that we finally get to head over to the Pokémon lab, again. Becky made sure that Katlyn had all of her clothes packed and made sure that she had all of our Pokéballs. We waited at the front door of the house for Samuel. We didn't wait long before he came down, ready for his first stop on his journey.

"Love you Mom. Tell Dad that I love him." The boy whispered as he gave his mom a hug.

"You be safe, and be sure that you call us whenever you have time." Becky said as she returned the hug.

"I will Mom." Sam confirmed as he walked towards the door. "Come on Kate. We don't have all day."

"Coming from the one person who took two hours to pack a few pairs of socks." Katlyn teased. Sam blushed slightly as he opened the door and let Katlyn go out the door. Sam and Katlyn waved goodbye to Sam's mom as me and Lawrence padded ahead.

We all stared up at the Lab and took in all of it's beauty. Katlyn didn't look impressed as much as depressed. Sam, on the other hand seemed excited.

"Well? What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Sam shouted as he ran up the hill. Katlyn followed suit as me and Lawrence also ran towards the front door. Sam reached the door first and knocked on the door. We waited a few minutes before the door opened.

"Welcome to the Pokémon Lab, how can I... Katlyn? No, it can't be." Gary said in an astonished tone.

"Yep, it's me." She replied in a quiet tone.

"Ok, and who is your friend?" Gary asked in a polite yet suspicious tone.

"This is Sam. He is here to become a trainer."

"Well, come on in so we can talk." Gary said as he opened the door wider. "I'm sorry Sam, but can you wait in here for a few minutes? I need to talk to Katlyn alone."

"Sure thing, Professor." Sam said politely. Gary took me to another room so we could talk.

"You are the same Katlyn from last week, right? The twenty year old with the Vulpix?" He asked suspiciously.

"Yeah, that's me. On the day that, I decided to cut through the woods to get to the new training center so I could practice with my Pokémon. When I went into the woods. I was attacked by a Banette. It cursed me into this body." Katlyn explained.

"Where did this Banette curse you? When a Banette uses a curse, they leave behind a curse mark. There are normally three types of curses. One is a permanent curse which is represented by a scar that looks like a Banette's head. That curse is not breakable. The second curse mark is a breakable curse but it can only be broken after a certain amount of time. That one is shone by a zigzag looking curse mark. The last one is a half curse. That means the curse is already broken, and you will slowly go back to normal. The half curse mark is in the shape of the Banette's eye. All of the marks, should look like darker patches of skin. Almost like a tattoo." Gary said as he checked my arms and legs.

"Here it is. You are lucky. It's only a half curse. The mark is on the bottom of your left foot." Gary said happily as he put my foot down.

"So how long will it take for this to wear off?"

"I would have to say, around thirteen years, give or take. Basically you have to grow up again."

"What? How am I going to help my brother if I have to grow up again? He is in serious trouble. He is even worse off then I am!" Katlyn shouted. Katlyn then went on to recount our entire adventure, since Pewter City.

"That is an amazing story. I can see why you can't wait. Most people would jump at the chance of being young again. Let me see your Trainer ID." Katlyn handed it over to Gary who then threw it into a shredder before Katlyn could even protest.

"That is not going to help you because any sensible policeman would see that you look to young to be a trainer. Instead I will give you this." Gary sat down at a computer and began to type rapidly on the keyboard. Soon he was finished and a card printer began to print. "Here, this is a junior trainer permit I only give this to kids who have special talents. It allows them to travel around without being restricted by most laws, as long as you are being supervised by an older trainer." Gary said as he handed the card to Katlyn.

"But Gary, I haven't seen any trainers come by here. The only one that even seems interested in becoming a trainer is Sam... You don't mean Sam, do you?" Katlyn asked. I personally thought that it would be cool to go with Sam. He was young and I could see that he would be filled with that beginning trainer enthusiasm.

"It is either him, or I can call your parents and tell them that they have to raise you for another thirteen years." Gary replied coolly. Katlyn sighed then nodded.

 **Sam's POV**

The excitement of finally starting my dream was starting to get to me. I found myself in the front lobby of the lab, sitting in a chair near the door. I was beginning to squirm in my seat from pure anticipation. After what seemed like hours, Professor Oak and Kate came back to the front room.

"Hello, Sam, my name is Gary Oak. You can just call me Gary, or Professor Oak if you want." Gary Oak smiled. "I noticed that you had already met Katlyn. So you want to become a trainer, correct?" Gary asked though he already knew my answer. I quickly nodded yes causing the Professor to smile. "Good, but first you need to do something for me." Suddenly, I had a feeling that I was not going to like what he was going to ask me to do.

"But Professor, that is flat out crazy! She is almost as old as my sister." I said in complete surprise.

"I know that, but she has been raising those Pokémon for a while now, and I promised her that she could go on a journey if I could get a trainer to accept responsibility for her. Since you have had some experience with her, you make the obvious choice." Gary said.

"How about this, if I can beat you in a battle, I get to go with you. If you beat me, I stay here." Katlyn said as she began to pick a ball from her belt.

"I don't even have a Pokémon. How am I going to battle?" I asked.

"I can allow you to pick your starter." Gary spoke up as he turned around and left the room. After a few minutes, he brought back a tray with three Pokéballs.

"These just came in today. One of them isn't standard, because the breeding center couldn't send me one of the original three. So they substituted." Gary said as he placed the tray on a table in the small room. He opened each one. The first two had a squirtle and a charmander. The third one had a small black and blue cat. With a yellow star on the end of its tail. "You can pick one for a one on one battle." Gary reminded as I stared at my choices.

 **Joshua's POV**

I was ready for my mission. I waited in what I assumed was a Pokéball since I could change my surroundings just by thinking about it. Just as I was beginning to imagine something else, I was sucked out of my imagination. The first thing I discovered was that I couldn't stand in an upright position anymore. The second thing I noticed was that everything was ten times taller then they were before. Then I noticed that there were three people staring at me.

"I think I will pick that one." A boy said as he pointed at me.

"I thought you might, Sam." A man said with a smile.

"Let's get this show on the road! Basil, go!" A small girl yelled as she tossed a Pokéball. After the bright flash, a large snake spawned, towering above me.

"Ok, Shinx. I'm going to be your trainer. This is going to be our first battle. Ok?" The boy asked.

"Oh, crap." I muttered. The stepped behind me and I faced the giant Arbok.

"You can't battle in here. Let me take you two over to the battlefield that we have here." The man said as he walked down a hall. The two kids followed, with the boy picking me up and the snake following the girl.

* * *

As usual, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I can't say when I will be able to publish the next chapter, but I will do my best to get it done. This chapter was a little slow. I didn't really want to get into detail about Sam's family since they aren't very important for this story. As you can see, Team Rocket are hot on Katlyn and the gang's tail. Now the story will be picking its pace a bit. I thought that there would be something for younger kids that would be able to let them travel. Introduce the junior trainers permit. Even in the manga there were kids younger then the trainer limit of ten raising Pokémon, so I decided that this would allow Katlyn to travel as long as she is with a real trainer. Again thank you for all of the support. If you have anything to say, please leave a review. If you are enjoying the story be sure to hit that favorite/follow button. This is shieldliger001 signing off.


	15. Chapter 15

Hello everyone, shield here. I hope ya'll enjoy the chapter. I am still using my IPad to write this and will most likely be another week or so before I will be able to use my computer again. Before I forget, need to add this into the A/N

"Human speech"

 _"Telepathy"_

 _"_ Pokémon spreech"

On to the reviews.

Philip Harbindinger: thanks for your continued support.

Mades: thank you so much for your critiques. I hope that I followed your advice better during this chapter. As for a black market for curses, that is an interesting idea. I can say that I have not thought about that. That is something that may be worth pursuing at a later point.

Caitou zzzzzz: thanks for the support, I don't plan on Sam being regressed. I must admit that it has crossed my mind, but it would not be permanent. Maybe for like a chapter or two later on.

* * *

 **People's minds are changed through observation and not through argument.**

 **Will Roger**

* * *

 **Chapter 15**

 **Katlyn's POV**

I have no idea how to battle. I never wanted to be a trainer and would have preferred it if I wasn't in this mess at all. But it is like they say, it is what it is. Gary led us to a small outdoor lot that was set up like a battlefield. Sam walked to the far side of the field and placed his new Shinx on the ground in front of him. Basil took up a similar position and we waited for the battle to begin. Gary signaled for us to begin.

"Basilisk, use whatever you see fit, just don't kill or eat him." I yelled trying to sound confident. Since I have never really battled before, I had no clue what basil's move set was. Basilisk looked at me as if I was nuts. Then Caleb sat down by my leg. He began to shout orders just like a trainer on TV. Basil nodded then began to attack. He darted towards the small cat and swiped at him with his tail. The tail was glowing a light purple color. The tail made direct contact with the side of the Shinx's belly, sending it crashing to the side. I heard Caleb give one more order and watched as the Arbok completed it. The Shinx didn't stand a chance.

"The winner is Katlyn and her Arbok." Gary announced. I quickly returned Basil, and walked over to Sam who was staring at the field in disbelief.

"That was so unfair. I didn't even have time to counter." Sam muttered.

"I won the battle. That means I get to go with you." I said triumphantly.

"Professor, this isn't fair. I can't babysit a little kid while on my journey. One of the main reasons I'm doing this is so I can get away from my little sister." Sam complained. Gary smiled at this then placed his hand on Sam's shoulder.

"She won't be any trouble, ok? Besides, you saw that she can take care of herself. She just needs someone to look after her, ok?" Sam seemed extremely downtrodden, but he silently agreed. We walked back inside the lab and Sam signed an agreement slip that said he would be responsible for me. We waited for about ten minutes for Gary to finish the process of making a trainers ID.

"Here you go Samuel Mattlov. You are officially a Pokémon trainer, congratulations." Gary said as he handed Sam a card that was similar to the one I had.

"Thank you for helping me, Sam. You don't know how much this means to me." I said.

"It's not like I had much of a choice, but you are welcome. Now, let's hit the road."

We walked for several miles. It was still early morning so it didn't get to hot. Sam wanted to go to the Viridian Forest in order to train his Shinx, and I tried to talk him into going to Cinnabar Island since there would be a lot of water types for him to fight, but he wouldn't budge.

 _"_ Katlyn, if we go to Viridian City, we can go to the large library they have there. While he is training, we can study up on some of the legends about Mew. _"_ Caleb said as we walked down the path.

"I didn't think of that." I muttered out loud.

"You didn't think of what?" Sam groaned, obviously thinking I left something at the lab.

"I was thinking that while you are training in the forest. I could go to the library." I said enthusiastically.

"No."

"What?" I asked confused.

"I don't want to go to the library. I need to train for the Pokémon gyms so we don't have time to go to a library." Sam replied swiftly.

"Then I will go by myself." I said.

"No, you won't."

"And why not?" I asked now getting angry.

"Because I am not allowed to let you leave my sight. That paper I signed had some important rules on what I need to do. One of those rules said that I had to keep you within earshot at all times. Since I'm older, I get to pick where we go. I want to go train, not go to the library. Besides, you probably can't read very well anyways." Sam said in a matter of fact tone.

"Hey! I can read!" I shouted, now getting really irritated. The very idea that I couldn't read, was completely ridiculous.

"I'll tell you what, if you can read the entire first chapter of this book, then tell me what it's about, I will take you to the library." Sam said as he pulled a thick book out of his bag then handed it to me. The title read People, Pokémon, and Diseases. I remembered that I read this book for a history class I took in high school, but all I remember from the book itself was that it could put a raging gyarados to sleep.

"I have to read this?" I asked incredulously. Sam had on a sly grin, then nodded yes. I shuddered as I opened the book to the first chapter.

If we weren't walking, I probably would have fallen asleep. I skimmed the book the best I could and only picked out the important parts. By the time I had finished the first chapter, it was noontime. Sam stopped and pulled out a sandwich and a large blue water bottle.

"You had better eat something before we get moving again. We won't be stopping until we get to town or if it is night time." I nodded then began to dig in my bag. Then I realized something; I left my lunch at the Professor's house.

"Um, Sam? I left my lunch at the Lab." I muttered. Sam let out an audible groan.

"Here, you can have half of my sandwich." He quickly ripped the peanut butter and jelly sandwich in half and handed me one of the halves. "So what was the first chapter about?" He asked with a wry smile. I sent him a smile of my own as I began to summarize what I had read.

"Now that I showed I can read, when are we going to the library?" I asked with a triumphant smile.

"We aren't."

"Hey! You promised that if I could read we would go to the library!" I shouted.

"I said that I might take you to the library. I still don't want to go to the library, and that is all there is to it." Sam replied resolutely.

"You are such a liar! You said that we would go to the library! This is important!"

"How is going to some library, important? Give me one good reason on why it's important."

"Because...because... Because it is, ok?" I couldn't say that I needed to go to the library to find a way to change my brother back and to make me gain thirteen years of my life back.

"Because it is. Well, let's just drop everything and go to the library. You obviously have an important reason." Sam replied sarcastically. "Hurry up, we need to get moving."

We spent the better part of the day arguing over the library trip. Before either of us knew it, or cared, we were standing outside Viridian City, still arguing.

"You are just a kid!" Sam shouted.

"And you are just a jerk!" I yelled back.

 **Caleb's POV**

 _"_ Just between you and me, I think she is acting more like a seven year old then she is acting like her usual self. _"_ Lawrence whispered.

 _"_ No kidding. The last time I saw her like this is when I was seven. _"_ I replied as I watched the name calling go back and forth. Pretty soon we were walking by the library.

 _"_ Looks like we will have to take matters into our own hands. _"_ I said as I dashed to the library's front entrance. Lawrence followed without any complaints.

"Caleb! Lawrence! Get back here!" Katlyn shouted as she caught a glimpse of us slipping through the open door.

 _"_ Ok, now we just need to find the place where they keep the research books. _"_ I said as I began search for signs.

 _"_ We better get moving. I just saw Katlyn and Sam come through the door." Lawrence whispered. I nodded then we both headed deeper into the library.

 **Katlyn's POV**

I was glad that Caleb took off the way he did. It gave me an excuse to go into the library. Sam, was beyond upset. He chased after me as I ran to the library. Once I was inside, I was amazed at how big the library was. It started out as a large, round open space, with the checkout counter to the right and a glass window to the left. Behind the window was a large book section which were obviously for young kids. Straight ahead of the entrance was another open area that branched off to the left and to the right.

"What are you waiting for? I saw your Vulpix go this way." Sam said impatiently as he ran towards the intersection.

"There is no running in this establishment." A librarian whispered loudly. Sam slowed to a fast walk then took the right hallway.

 **Caleb's POV**

"I told you, we should have gone to the left. All of the reference books and research materials are down in the basement. I only saw one staircase to the basement, which was down the other hallway." I whispered to Lawrence as we wandered through the adult fiction section of the library.

"Ok fine, we'll head back over there... Uh-oh, we will need to do some sneaking because Sam just came through the door, and Katlyn is right behind him." Lawrence whispered. I nodded then we both began to sneak back towards the exit.

 **Katlyn's POV**

"I don't see them anywhere. Are you sure that they came this way?" I asked as we searched the adult fiction section of the library. I saw many of the books that I had been waiting to read. Many of which I probably wouldn't be able to read with Sam around since they would be considered bad for my 'age level'.

"Being young again is really starting to suck." I muttered as I stared at all of the books I could no longer read.

"Did you say something?" Sam asked quietly as he searched the aisles.

"No, I was just thinking out loud." I replied with a sigh.

"There is one of them! Hurry up, before they get away!" Sam whispered loudly.

 **Caleb's POV**

Me and Lawrence decided to split up. I would head to the reference department and he would lead Sam on a goose chase as a distraction. I slipped past Sam and Katlyn with ease and began to head to the stairs to the basement.

"How did you get in here?" A feminine voice asked as a shadow covered me. I looked up to see that it was one of the librarians.

"You aren't supposed to be in her little one. I better take you up to the front desk until I can find your trainer." She reached down and scooped me up with an unnatural ease then began to carry me back to the front of the library.

"Crap." I muttered.

 **Lawrence's POV**

I led Sam and Katlyn around for awhile until I felt sure that Caleb made it to the reference department. Then I let myself get trapped.

"We got him cornered. Hurry up and put him into his Pokéball." Sam demanded.

"He doesn't have one. He has a chip that registers him to me, and makes it to where he can't be captured." I replied as I picked the Vulpix up.

"No wonder he can just do what he wants." Sam murmured quietly. "Well I guess he can at least lead us to where the other one is."

"Lawrence, show us where Caleb went." Katlyn whispered. I nodded then started heading to the reference department.

"So? Where is he?" Sam asked once we had combed the entire basement. I stopped near all of the research books on myths, but to my surprise, there was no Caleb. I looked around then tried to pick up on his scent. Only to find that he had never made it down here. Katlyn didn't seem to notice my confusion. She stood behind Sam trying to grab a book off one of the taller shelves. After a few more seconds, she managed to get it. She quickly got two more books, then turned around to see Sam staring at her. She smiled shyly.

"So this was all just a trick in order for you to get a few books." He said accusingly.

"Yeah, but if you had just kept your promise, I wouldn't have had to trick you." Katlyn shot back quickly. Sam grabbed one of the books and looked at the cover.

"There is no way you would understand this. It's for people five times your age." Sam deadpanned as he placed the book back on the shelf. Katlyn quickly snatched the book back off the shelf and held onto it with a death grip.

"You don't know what I can read. So you can't tell me what I can or cannot read." Katlyn replied vehemently.

"Fine, act like a baby. I don't care, but I will not be responsible for the books." He said angrily. "Hurry up and check out, because I have training to do."

We walked up to the front checkout stand. I was still searching for Caleb. I couldn't believe that Katlyn had just forgotten about him. She waited by the counter for the librarian to check her books out. When a librarian finally did show up, she was carrying a small, baby Vulpix. Katlyn placed the books and a library card on the counter.

 _"_ Leave it to Caleb to get caught by a book worm. _"_ I muttered.

"Excuse me, can I checkout these... Caleb! Why aren't you with Lawrence!" She exclaimed at the appearance of her brother.

 _"_ Any and all respect I had for your intelligence has just flown out the window, Katlyn. _"_ I said out loud. Katlyn glared daggers at me, but before she could say anything the librarian handed her a grateful Caleb.

"You should be more careful with your Pokémon, especially one that young. Also, Pokémon that are older can't be out of a Pokéball in this establishment. Do you understand?" The librarian lectured.

"Yes ma'am, I understand." Katlyn replied dejectedly. I think that she was more embarrassed by the way she was being talked to as a child then she was about losing Caleb. The librarian gave a reassuring smile and began to scan the books.

"Here you go hon. Have a good day." The librarian smiled.

We left the library without saying a word. Sam had an angry expression on his face while Katlyn had a slight grin.

"Don't you ever pull another stunt like that again. If you do I will take you back to Pallet Town." Sam threatened. I could tell he was serious, and I think Katlyn did to. Then in a softer tone. "I need to do some training. Let's head head to a Pokémon Center. They have some practice fields, and I was wondering if you would mind showing me how your Pokémon knew what to do without you giving a command." Katlyn was taken by complete surprise. Not saying a single word, Katlyn nodded.

We walked for another ten minutes or so before we reached the central Pokémon Center. Unlike the other two centers in Viridian, this one was a lot bigger. We walked in and Sam took his Shinx to be healed.

 _"_ You know, I am really starting to hate Viridian City. _"_ Caleb muttered as he stared out of one of the front windows.

"I know what you mean. It has been almost three weeks since we started this cursed trip, and we always seem to end up back here." Katlyn whispered.

 _"_ Katlyn, do you think I am human? _"_ Caleb asked his forlorn gaze betraying his otherwise calm expression.

"What kind of question is that? Of course you are still human. You are my brother, aren't you?" Katlyn replied firmly. Caleb smiled slightly before he returned to his forlorn look.

 _"_ Thanks, but sometimes I'm not sure anymore. Zan and I were talking the other day. He said he didn't see me as human because I didn't look human. I keep telling myself that I am human, but as things are going now I think I should get used to the idea that I won't be able to change back. _"_ Caleb looked up at his sister sadly.

"Look, don't say things like that. We will fix everything. I promise." Caleb began to say something, but was interrupted by a long ringing noise. The sound caught the three of us off guard, so Katlyn began to dig for the source in her backpack. She pulled out her new cell phone she bought in Pewter City. She quickly checked the caller ID.

"Oh crap, it's mom." She muttered. She pressed the answer button then placed the smart phone to her ear.

"Hello?" She asked shakily into the phone.

 **Joshua's POV**

 _"_ I think someone forgot to prepare me for this mission. _"_ I murmured as I finally became conscious.

 _"_ First battle, huh? _"_ A pink creature asked. I nodded and the creature smiled. _"_ It is easy to tell who is new to battling. Believe it or not, but you were pretty lucky for your first battle. Most that come in here, after their first, are in far worst shape. You only had a few bruises. _"_ The now recognizable Chansey said.

 _"_ Yeah? Well I fell like I got smashed with a tree. _"_ I replied as my head pound furiously.

 _"_ Don't worry. That should go away soon. I just gave you a few pain killers. They will help with your pain. _"_ The Chansey replied cheerfully.

 _"_ How long will it be before my um...trainer gets me out of here? _"_ I asked.

 _"_ We are in the middle of discharging you right now. You were a simple case this time, so you were only in here for about ten minutes. I overheard him say that he is going to train you in the practice field as soon as he can get you out. _"_

 _"_ Him? My um...trainer is a boy? _"_ I remembered seeing a young boy when I was out of the Pokéball for the first time, but everything happened so fast that I didn't know what exactly happened.

 _"_ Yep, and he looks like he will be a good trainer for you to. I need to go get a few things. I will be back _."_ The Chansey said as she left the room. I scratched my left ear with my left paw and activated the chip in my ear.

 _"_ Headquarters, I think you missed the mark. I have not seen the target and I believe that I have been placed with a male trainer. What are my orders? _"_ I whispered.

"We have a report which says that the target is with a young boy. Most likely a new trainer. Stay with the boy for a couple of days and observe. If you do not see the target, we will extract you, over _._ "A voice replied in my ear.

 _"_ Roger that, Marik out. _"_

* * *

As usual, I hope ya'll enjoyed the chapter. I can't wait to post the next one. The book from the book test is based on an actual book called 'Of People and Diseases'. It was literally the most boring book I ever had to read. If you have anything to say about the chapter or about the story in general, please leave a review. If you like the story, be sure to hit that favorite/follow the story. This is shieldliger001 signing off


	16. Chapter 16

Hello everyone, shield here. I am so sorry for how late this chapter is. I just got back from South Padre Island yesterday, and I really didn't have much time to work on this. That and my grandparents have that old school thinking about technology. You could spend five minutes on the phone and they say that you were on it for three hours, lol. Anyways I would like to thank all of the people who have favorite and followed my story. I noticed that there were quite a few people who began to follow and favorite my story while I was on vacation. Well that wraps this up. On with the story!

* * *

 **A traitor is a betrayer – one who practices injury, while professing friendship. Benedict Arnold was a traitor because, while professing friendship for the American cause, he attempted to injure it. An open enemy, however criminal in other respects, is no traitor.**

 **Lysander Spooner**

* * *

 **Chapter 16**

 **Katlyn's POV**

"Hello?" I asked nervously. I had completely forgotten about my parents. I told them that I would call them once a week, but since I was regressed, I rather forgot to make good on my promise.

"Katlyn? What's wrong with your voice? Are you sick?" My mom questioned without giving me a chance to answer.

"Sorry, but there isn't anyone here by that name. I think you have the wrong num..."

"Katlyn, stop with the charade. I would recognize your voice anywhere. Now, what is going on?"

"I walked through a construction site as a shortcut, and inhaled a bunch of helium from a leaking tank and it made my voice higher pitched." I tried to lie.

"Oh, ok." I let out a sigh of relief. "So, when are you going to stop lying to me?"

"I'm not lying to you." I muttered out of fear.

"Katlyn, you are about as convincing as the politicians at the Capital. Unlike your brother, you couldn't tell a lie to save your life. Now, tell me what is going on." After she said this, I noticed that Sam and his Shinx were headed back towards us.

"Um, mom? I will have to call you back later. Bye!" I said quickly and hung up the phone before my mom could even protest. I shut the phone off so it wouldn't ring and placed it in a pocket on my overalls.

"Who was that you were talking to on the phone? Come to think of it, how did you even get a phone?" Sam asked.

"My mom bought it. It was her phone. It was in the backpack when I got out of the fire."

"Ok, so who was on the phone?" He asked again.

"I don't know, just some guy selling security stuff." I replied nonchalantly. Sam didn't seem to buy it but he let the subject go.

"I decided that we will stay here for the night and train, and then we will head east to Celadon City. I will try to beat the gym there first." Sam said as he placed his Shinx on the ground next to Lawrence and Caleb. "Also, I think you should have Lawrence's chip removed, and have him placed in a Pokéball. He is rare enough for people to want to steal him. Without a Pokéball, he is an easy target."

"I can't, his mom would probably curse me or something if I did that. Besides, he is technically my brothers Pokémon so I can't do anything without his and Lawrence's permission." Katlyn replied.

"I didn't know you had a brother. Why didn't you try to go with him?"

"He was indisposed at the time, and couldn't come." I said quickly. Caleb looked up at me for a second, his single tail twitching ever so slightly.

"I thought you said that your entire family died in a fire in Saffron City?" Sam asked suspiciously.

"They did, he isn't really my brother. He is my older cousin. I used to call him my brother when I was little. He went overseas for a while, and told me to take care of Lawrence." I replied, trying to sound sincere. Sam didn't seem to buy it, but let that subject go also.

"I will get the truth out of you, one of these days. For now, I need to train. Come on, the fields are over this way." We walked through a glass door on the right side of the lobby. It led to a large practice field similar to what they used on TV. Sam placed his Shinx on the ground then looked at me expectantly. "Well?"

"Well, what?" I asked. This moment is something I had been dreading since he had asked me about training.

"You said you would show me how you were able to beat me without even saying a command."

"Oh, right. Well, um, first, you need to gain your Pokémon's trust. I started by naming them. You can't just name them. You also need to name them something they like." I said knowingly. I sent Caleb a message with my eyes telling him to find out the Shinx's name. He went to the Shinx and began to whisper.

 **Caleb's POV**

I quickly walked over to Sam's new Pokémon. The small cat looked a little frightened at first, but otherwise he was calm.

"Hey, what's up? _"_ I asked. The cat seemed strangely interested in the conversation. Of course this was one of the only times he has seen his trainer.

"Pretty much everything is up. _"_ The cat replied showing little interest in me, or anything for that matter.

"Hardy har, har, very funny. So, what's your name? _"_

"Marik. _"_ The little cat replied. He didn't seem very sociable and wouldn't talk to me afterwards either. So I walked back to Katlyn.

"His name is Marik. _"_ I said with a light growl. Katlyn nodded slightly. She began to pretend she was thinking, but it was obvious, at least to me, that she was faking.

"I know, how about Marik?" Katlyn asked with fake enthusiasm. It nearly made me sick seeing how unconvincing she was. Surprisingly, Sam seemed to not notice how fake she sounded.

"That is a stupid name. Why would anyone want to be named Marik?" Sam retorted. The cat that stood next to him didn't feel the same.

"There is nothing wrong with the name Marik. It's a very noble name, and therefore it deserves respect! _"_ he yelled.

"He can't understand you smart one. _"_ I snickered as the cat started to gripe.

"Then why can his sister understand me? If she can, then he can right? _"_ he asked when he realized that he wasn't getting his point across.

"Um, no. For one, Katlyn isn't Sam's sister. And for two, Katlyn is, well, special. _"_ I replied.

"Interesting, so she can speak to any Pokémon? _"_ the Shinx questioned.

"Yes and no. she can understand what most Pokémon can say, but each Pokémon has a slightly different dialect that can make it hard to understand. She is used to me so she can understand me pretty well. _"_ I explained. The Shinx seemed rather thoughtful for a few minutes then returned to the conversation without saying another word.

"Talk about being rude. _"_ I muttered as I walked back towards Katlyn.

"All I am saying is that it doesn't matter what you think of the name as long as he likes it." Katlyn said to a stubborn Sam. "Just ask him and see if he likes it. His opinion is the only one that matters."

"Fine, I will ask him. But I think that I should have a say in this. Aren't trainers supposed to have control in the partnership?"

"You are such an idiot. You read all of these books about training, and all you can think about is if you are in charge. It's called a partnership for a reason. You both need to have a mutual agreement with each other. You treat him fairly, and he will do his best for you. Now hurry up and ask him if he likes the name."

"Alright, alright. Don't get your ponytail in a twist." Sam replied as he bent down to the cat's level. "Do you like the name Marik?" he asked with very little expectation of a response. To Sam's surprise, but not to the surprise of the others, the little electric cat began to nod his head violently. "Fine then you will be called Marik." Sam said in a small voice.

"Now we can go onto step two of earning each other's trust." Katlyn said. Katlyn knelt down and scratched the cat behind the ear, then got up and headed back inside.

"Wait! What's step two? Hey, get back here!" Sam called.

"You are already doing it! All you have to do is spend time with him!" Katlyn called back as she opened the door.

"Where are you going? I can't let you out of my sight! Katlyn, get back here now!"

 **Lawrence's POV**

We stayed at the Pokémon center for about three days. By the end of the third day, Sam and his Shinx had gotten used to each other and could even function as a team. Katlyn and Sam kept getting into arguments on what Katlyn could and couldn't do. During several of those arguments, Katlyn nearly ruined her cover. Though she managed to stop herself from completely ruining her cover, it only caused Sam to get more suspicious.

We left early Friday morning. After several days of arguing, Sam decided that we should head to Celadon City by plane. Since Sam has a trainers ID, the plane tickets were fairly cheap.

"Do we have to go to Celadon first? I mean we could go to Cerulean City. That way you have a type advantage against the gym leader." Katlyn whined as the older boy handed her a plane ticket.

"Yes, we do. I want to make a small trip to visit my Grandparents in Celadon. As soon as we are done visiting them, and I have won the badge there, we will head to Saffron, then up to Cerulean. Why don't you want to go to Celadon? There isn't anything bad about it. Besides, if you are good on the plane, I was going to take you to the water park in Cerulean." Sam said to Katlyn with a large smile.

"I just don't want to go home. I'm scared of what I will see there." Katlyn lied. She wasn't scared about anything being dead. She was scared of being found out by her parents. If they found out about what had happened to her then they would not let her leave the house ever again. They might even make her repeat grade school.

"Look, I'm no expert, but I am sure you are supposed to remember things like that. If you are going to travel with me, you will need to get over things like that. I may sound bad for saying things like this, but you need to get over things like that. It's the only way that you will get anywhere." Sam said profoundly.

"What are you? A psychiatrist?" Katlyn retorted.

"Do you even know what a psychiatrist is?" Sam said with a smug grin.

"It is a shrink on a couch that you tell your life story to, and they tell that everything will be alright." Sam's grin melted away fast and he began to look impatiently at his watch. "I have a feeling that I will need a shrink after this fiasco is over." Katlyn muttered silently.

"What was that?" Sam asked as he looked back up from his watch.

"Nothing."

"Sometimes, you don't seem like a kid. You need to stop acting so grown up and be a kid. It's like what my dad says, "You only get to be a kid once. Make the most of it." Katlyn rolled here eyes in response. She started to say something, but was cut off by a voice sounding from the intercom.

"We are now boarding flight 115 to Celadon City. If you are on flight 115, be sure to be at terminal 3." The voice announced over nearly a hundred speakers.

"Well that's us. Look, I know that you don't like the idea of being near Saffron City, but I need to go there. As soon as I get the badge from Erika, we are going to head to Saffron to fight Sabrina. If you want, we can completely skip the side of town where your house is, but I must go to Saffron City." Sam said. Katlyn became slightly pale, but she managed to nod.

We quickly made it to the gate, which led to our plane. There were a few other passengers who were boarding the plane, but otherwise the terminal was deserted. When we reached the ticket station, the flight attendant checked Sam's ticket and passed him through. Katlyn was next so she handed the woman the stubs and waited for the women to hand the ticket back.

"I'm sorry young lady, but is that your Vulpix?" the lady asked warily as she pointed down towards me. Katlyn nodded quietly. "I'm sorry but I am going to have to ask you to place him in a Pokéball.

"He doesn't have a Pokéball; he has one of those Friends chips." Katlyn almost whined.

"I'm sorry but I cannot allow you on this plane, unless he is in a Pokéball. Where is your guardian? I will need to speak to them about this situation." The woman replied. Katlyn pointed to Sam. The woman scowled slightly when she saw Sam then picked up the phone on the ticket booth. "Yes, get me child services. I have two minors that are trying to board flight 115 without any parents. No sir, I didn't check for a trainer ID.

"Young man, please come here." The flight attendant said to Sam. Sam groaned then walked back to the other side of the gate.

"Whatever she said, don't take it personally. She is still little girl so she doesn't know what she says half the time." Sam said quickly. The flight attendant looked at Katlyn with a quick glancing look, but then returned her stern gaze to Sam.

"Young man, do you have any identification?"

"Yeah, here, let me get it out." Sam began to dig through his pocket. He quickly produced a small plastic card and gave it to the woman. The woman glanced down at the card and studied for several long seconds, before she handed it back.

"Young lady, how old are you?" the woman asked Katlyn as she handed the ID back to Sam.

'Great here we go again.' I thought as I saw Katlyn's expression go slightly sour.

"I'm old enough." Katlyn mutter. Sam rolled his eyes.

"She is seven. Are there any problems with that?" Sam answered."

"Unfortunately, yes. You may board the plane, but I am afraid that I will need to detain her for the time being." Sam suddenly turned pale.

"You have no right to detain her!" Sam shouted, causing the flight attendant to jump back slightly.

"I'm sorry, but I do have to follow protocol. It clearly states that I am to detain children under the age of ten who are not under adult supervision. She said that you were the one in charge of her. I'm sorry but she will have to come with me. You can either get on the plane, or stay with your sister." I was at a loss for words. I remembered hearing Katlyn and Caleb talking about the laws concerning kids, but right now, I couldn't think of anything that could help us.

 **Katlyn's POV**

'This just keeps getting better and better.' I thought as the flight attendant held my hand. I tried to struggle quite a bit, but my young body just didn't have the strength to escape from the woman's iron like grip.

"Katlyn just quit struggling. You are going to cause us to get into more trouble." Sam said with a quiet rage. The woman led us into a small office. It had several computer monitors, which showed different parts of the airport.

"This gentleman will watch you until the proper authorities arrive."

"You two can take a seat over there. It won't be long before the authorities get here." A man in front of the computers said as he continued to watch the screen.

"Sam, what are we going to do? They are going to send us all the way back to Pallet Town." I whispered to the older boy. Sam didn't say a word for several minutes, but then let out an audible sigh.

"We aren't going to do anything. I am going on with my journey and you are going back to your uncle's. I told you and Professor Oak that this would not work. We haven't made an ounce of progress. I will make sure that you get to Pallet Town, but that is it." Sam said sullenly.

"But you said you would help me." I muttered quietly.

"That was before. I cannot trust you. The incident at the library. You lie all the time about your past. I'm not even truly sure if you are Professor Oak's niece. There are just too many things about you that don't make sense." Sam replied. He began to fidget with his Pokéball. "When I get back to Pallet Town, I will be sure to visit you."

We sat for several long minutes. I really didn't know what to say. My shock turned to anger as I sprung up and punched Sam in the jaw as hard as I could. Sam dropped the Pokéball and began to rub the spot I had punched him. The Pokéball opened with its usual soft hum, and released the little Shinx within.

"You two need to sit back down and behave yourselves. If you do anything like that again, I will put both of you in separate corners." The man behind the desk said sternly after I sat back down, still seething with anger. Sam didn't say anything to me. He didn't even look angry. He just calmly picked up the empty Pokéball and stared down at his Shinx.

 **Joshua's POV**

The sudden feeling of cold air told me that I was still indoors. I looked around to see that I was in some sort of security office. Sam was sitting in the chair above me, looking strangely calm. Katlyn didn't look so calm. In fact, she looked extremely angry.

For the past three days, I had spent a lot of time with Sam. I learned a great deal about being a Pokémon, but very little about the Jolteon I was sent to spy on. I hadn't even seen the supposed creature.

'Guess I should radio headquarters.' I thought as I lightly scratched the ear with the transmitter.

"I have not seen the target. I'm ready for pick up. _"_ I whispered quietly.

"Roger that, Ghost. We will extract you in ten minutes." The voice on the other end replied.

'Good, the sooner I get back to base, the sooner I can be with my family.' I thought as I lay down by Sam's leg. All I had to do was wait.

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I hope ya'll enjoyed this chapter. The story will be picking up pace after the next chapter. If ya'll have anything to say about the story or anything in general, be sure to leave a review. If like the story so far, be sure to his the favorite/follow button. Until next time, shieldliger signing off.


	17. Chapter 17

Hello everyone, shield here. I really liked writing this chapter, because it allowed me to do some things besides describing walking along a trail. I hope ya'll enjoy the chapter. On with the Story!

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 **Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. But anger is like fire. It burns it all clean.**

 **Maya Angelou**

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 **Chapter 17**

 **Caleb's POV**

I sat in my Pokéball for what felt like eternity. When you are inside the Pokéball, you have almost no perception of time. I spent most of my time imagining that I was in some of my favorite books. With the Pokéball's help. I was able to be in the books I was imagining. At the moment, I was in the cockpit of a Shadow Hawk battlemech fighting against a Kuritan Marauder. This particular battle was from a book called Decision at Thunder Rift.

"You are still trying to keep up with your humanity, huh? _"_ a voice from the passenger seat asked.

"What are you doing here?" I yelled out of surprise. Zan's sudden appearance caused me to lose control of the fifty-five ton machine, causing it to crash to the ground. The cockpit shook violently when we had hit the rocky terrain of Thunder Rift. The Marauder stood above my machine and leveled its two club-like arms at my cockpit. Each arm contained a particle projection cannon and a medium laser. I could see the energy coils deep in the weapons start to glow as the Marauder prepared to unleash man made lighting. I closed my eyes tightly and imagined a place that wouldn't have a seventy-five ton technological terror that could squash me like a bug. I opened my eyes and saw the Marauder fire its PPCs. Just as the energy was about to hit, the Marauder and the energy beams began melt away. Soon I was standing in my room staring at Zan.

"You nearly got me killed!" I yelled at him angrily. Zan looked at me with a slight smirk. "Do you even know what those things do if you are hit point blank? They slowly disintegrate you!"

"You wouldn't die. _"_ The Jolteon replied with a smug smirk. I looked at him with pure exasperation.

"What part of, they disintegrate you, did you not understand!" I demanded.

"You can't die in a Pokéball. They are designed to keep you safe and entertained. _"_ Zan replied. He was still smiling which only made me even angrier.

"What do you want? You don't just show up without a reason."

"I thought I would stop by and see if you wanted to learn some moves. But I see that you are busy getting cremated by giant robots so I guess I will come back later. _"_ Zan shrugged.

"I can't learn moves yet anyway. The Pokedex said that I had to wait for about six months before I can start training." Zan rolled his eyes.

"Look, despite, what humans think. The Pokémon world can be very cruel. A lot of times young kits such as yourself die because they are apart of the food chain. The only reason that the casualty count isn't as high as it could be is because kits are taught to fight at an early age. If you don't want to learn, you can stay here and burn inside your robot. _"_ Zan said angrily. His anger shocked me. Never once had Zan showed me this kind of rage. He always seemed to save it for Katlyn. He quickly recomposed himself then looked back at me.

"I'm sorry about that. My offer still stands. _"_ Zan said with a ghost of the smirk he had earlier.

"I'll come." I responded.

"I thought you might."

 **Katlyn's POV**

Sam just stared at his Shinx. The small cat scratched behind his ear but otherwise just sat on the floor. The man behind the desk stood up and stretched. He was about to sit back down when there was a rather loud knock on the door.

"That must be the people from the CPS. Ok, you two, make sure you have everything." The man said as he reached for the door. He opened it and a man and a woman, dressed in cheap suits, came in.

"I am assuming that these two are the children you fellas called us about?" the man asked. The security guard nodded.

"Careful what you ask these two. The girl slugged her older brother in the jaw earlier. It was quite the hit to"

"He is anything but my brother!" I yelled as I kicked the man in the shin. He began to groan with pain as he bent down and massaged the shin.

"Please, just get them out of here." The man growled.

"Don't worry sir; they are officially out of your hands as soon as you sign this release form." The woman replied as she pulled a small packet of papers from a pocket in her jacket. She handed the security guard the packet and a pen. The guard scribbled down his name and handed back the papers. The two CPS agents thanked the guard then the man grabbed my hand. They allowed Sam to walk freely since he was cooperating. Seeing no point in struggling, I allowed my captors to lead me to the parking lot.

"So what are your names?" the man asked as he buckled me into a booster seat in the back of a yellow car. I blushed as the man pulled the strap tight. I haven't had to ride in a booster seat since I really was seven.

"My name is Samuel Mattlov, and that's Katlyn." Sam spoke on my behalf.

"Well Sam, Katlyn, we will be driving to Fort Trell. It is a small town about twenty miles to the east of Viridian City. It will be about two hours before we get there since it's about to be rush hour. If you two could keep it down while I am driving, that would be great. Also, I'm going to need you to put your Vulpix in this Pokéball. It's made for Pokémon that have chips instead of Pokéball's." The man said as he handed me a blue and red colored Pokéball and sat down in the driver's seat. I looked at Lawrence who seemed somewhat confused.

"Just go ahead and do it. It's not like I haven't been in a Pokéball before. _"_ Lawrence said with a slight smile. I nodded and tapped him with the front of the capsule. We pulled out of the parking lot and, as if on queue, we hit the five o'clock rush hour traffic. The traffic was even worse then I expected. The streets were covered with cars, trucks, and semis.

"This stupid Pokémon league crap has everything screwed up. Sometimes I wish they would disband the whole thing." The man said as we slowly merged into the main hallway.

"You know that it also has its benefits. It allows kids to have an opportunity to see the world for themselves and not just from a book or computer." The woman replied.

"What you really mean is that it causes your son to get out of the house in order for you to save money on the Wi-Fi bill." The man laughed.

"I just call that an added bonus." I smiled slightly, knowing that mom had kicked Caleb out for doing something similar.

The two adults continued to talk for a few hours as we drove through town, and I decided I should read the books that I had gotten from the library a few days earlier. As I began to read, the more angry I became that all of this was happening. After Caleb got cursed, everything went from bad to worse. As I read through the first book, it began to talk about some of the very first sightings of Mew that has ever been recorded. It talked about how in ancient times, a tribe of humans had traveled into a seemingly endless forest. It didn't take long for the tribe to create a permanent settlement in the forest. They cut down vast amounts of wood and killed countless amounts of Pokémon. This went on for more then a century. Mew watched as her children were slaughtered, and the humans continue to grow and thrive. She begged Arceus for a chance to avenge the slain, but every time Arceus told her to wait a little longer. She would always ask why, and Arceus would say that it was the way of life, and that only when humans began to slaughter for pleasure would she be allowed to exact her revenge. Finally, the settlement had grown into a mighty nation. The rich kings and nobles would lead hunts into the surrounding woods. They hunted for weeks on end, killing anything that they found beautiful to look at. Mew finally had her chance. While the nobles were away, she descended into the town below. She remained hidden and watched as the people went about their daily lives. She realized that many of the people that had lived in the town were to poor to afford anything more then bread. As Mew watched, a young boy and girl wandered into her hiding place. The boy, curious, touched Mew on the back. The legendary whirled around and prepared to attack. She backed off when she saw that they were only children. She asked them what they were doing and the boy said that he and his sister were searching for any scraps of food. He explained that the king and nobles had taken nearly everything from the people and left them to fend for themselves. Upon hearing this, Mew became very angry. She flew to the house of all of the elites and destroyed everything that belonged to them she took all of the nobles' wives and children and lead them to the king's castle. By now, the king and nobles had returned from their hunt, unaware of the destruction to their homes. Mew blasted open the large gates then lead the group of families into the castle's great hall. The nobles were in complete shock as their families came through the doors. Mew slammed the gates shut and floated to the king and nobles. _"I came to destroy you and all of the living beings that live in your city. However, I found that the only ones I need to destroy are you and your elite. Prepare for your punishment."_ She said to the king. The king got down on his knees and began to beg for his life. Mew consented and gave the king one day to correct the mistakes to his people, then allowed the families to leave. As Mew turned to leave, the king got up, grabbed his hunting bow, and notched a single arrow. He drew back and launched the arrow straight into the back of the legendary. Mew, stunned by the king's treachery, fell to the ground. The brother and sister that had told Mew about the king, rushed to her side. She shakily rose up and faced a cheering crowd of nobles. Her anger overloaded her with power as she exploded with raw energy. The children clung to the legendary out of fear and watched as the nobles and the king burned away like a wood fire. Mew turned to the children, and told them to get their friends and families away from the city. They nodded and quickly got everyone out of the city. When the city was cleared of life, Mew used the last of her power and destroyed the city. After the city's destruction, Mew collapsed. Arceus looked at his daughter with love. _"_ You have learned a great lesson here my daughter, but you can not learn from a lesson if you die. Rise up and spread the knowledge of what you have learned to every creature. Tell them what has passed here. When they ask where this event occurred tell them it happened at the Green Landing for it was the city among the trees." At the sound of Arceus' voice, Mew's eyes fluttered open and she began to smile. She vanished in a flash of light with Arceus. It's said that Mew returns to that place once a year on the same day she slew the treacherous king and his nobles.

"Whoa, I didn't see that coming." I said as I finished reading the first myth in the book. "Excuse me, but isn't Green Landing near here?" I asked the adults.

"Yes, it is. Although most people don't know it, it's apart of Fort Trell. Most of the ruins there were assimilated into the fort when it was a base two hundred years ago. Where did you hear about Green Landing?" the woman asked.

"I read about it in a book." I replied. The woman stared at me incredulously through the rear view mirror, but didn't say anything else.

After what seemed like an eternity, we made it out of the city and into the countryside. By now, the sun was just about to go completely down as the day surrendered to the night.

"Huh, that's odd. There is a car up ahead in the middle of the road." The driver said as he slowed down.

 **Caleb's POV**

"Caleb, you need to concentrate on the flame in your chest. That is where you will get your power. _"_ Zan lectured as I tried to at least make a few puffs of smoke.

"I'm trying to, but I haven't ever done this before. _"_ I replied.

"Are you breathing the way we showed you? _"_ Jack asked. I nodded then went through the entire checklist again.

"He appearsss to be ssstanding the correct way." Basil added.

"His problem is that he doesn't know how to tap into his inner flame." Lawrence said as I tried to concentrate as hard as I could.

"We already know that. That is what we have been trying to teach him Lawrence… Lawrence! What are you doing in here? _"_ Zan asked as he stared at my friend in surprise. Lawrence looked at Zan with a certain degree of amusement, but then it turned to a look of worry.

"We have a problem. The child protection services stopped Katlyn from boarding the plane. They are taking us to some town east of Viridian. _"_

"You have got to be kidding me. Did Katlyn show the people her permit thing? _"_ I asked. Lawrence answered with a blank stare. _"_ You are telling me that neither Katlyn nor Sam showed the CPS the junior trainer permit? _"_ Lawrence nodded. _"_ She can be such an idiot sometimes. _"_ I muttered to myself. _"_ Ok, look. On that, paper Sam signed is a plastic card. It looks similar to a Trainers ID. Tell Katlyn to show that to the agents and have Sam verify it. That should get us out of this mess."

"Sam is trying to get rid of us. He probably won't verify anything. _"_ Lawrence replied

"So basically, we are stuck and we are going to most likely be sent back to Pallet Town. _"_ I said. I suddenly felt angry for all of the things that had happened. It just isn't fair that any of this was happening to my sister and me. The burning rage flooded my throat with warmth. The heat made its escape into my mouth, which allowed it to escape into the open air. The flames flew at a target Zan had created, and scorched it.

"Well that's one way to get him to use his flame. _"_ Jack said. I began to say something but everything disappeared in a bright white light.

 **Katlyn's POV**

"Zan I need your help!" I cried as I threw a Pokéball from my belt. As the light shined from the ball, I realized that I didn't pick the right Pokéball.

"That's the best you've got? Grimer, use Sludge Bomb!" a man in a black sneak suit yelled. The pile of goo the man had ordered, complied. It began to roll up a large amount of its own gooey mass then chunked it at Caleb. Caleb didn't even move. The ball of sludge fell on him, and then exploded. He rolled out of the smoke in front of my feet, but didn't move. I ran to his side and picked him up. His body was covered in goo, but I didn't care. The man started towards Sam and me. Sam was to busy with another black suited man to help. Suddenly the black suited man took a nosedive. The driver of the car we were in had tackled him from behind. The two men struggled on the ground for several long minutes before a third man whacked the driver over the head with a crowbar. The driver crumpled to the ground.

"Thanks, what happened to the other one?" the first man asked.

"I tied her up by the tree over there. She won't be going anywhere."

"Good, let's finish up this mission. Charlie! Quit playing around and get that Shinx. We'll take care of the girl." The first man yelled as he and his friend began to make their way toward me.

"You know what? I am tired of being treated like a kid!" I yelled as I swiped to Pokéballs from my belt. The Pokéballs landed in front of me, then began to hum as they released the two Pokémon they contained. When the light faded away, Basil and Zan appeared, both ready for the fight ahead. Everyone seemed to stop and stare at this turn of events. Even Sam's Shinx stopped and stared at the new arrivals.

"Looks like the Intel was wrong about the Jolteon. Come on boys, surely we will get a raise for this one. Grimer, show them what you've got." The first man said with a wicked smile.

"This should be interesting. Go, Raichu!" the second man yelled as he to sent a Pokémon into the coming battle.

"Basilisk, Poison Tail on the Raichu! Zan, Thunderbolt on the Grimer!" I yelled. Both Pokémon jumped into action. The two men ordered their Pokémon to also attack. The two sides wasted no time. At the moment the attacks started to hit, time seemed to slow to a crawl.

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Finally! Katlyn, Caleb, and Sam finally make it out of Viridian! I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter. I got to put a little bit of everything into this one. If ya'll have anything to say, be sure to leave a review. if you are enjoying the story, be sure to hit that favorite/follow button. This is shieldliger001, signing off.


	18. Chapter 18

What's up everyone? This will most likely be the last chapter I publish before school starts so expect some delays for upcoming chapters ;'(. On to the reviews!

Caitou zzzzzz: Thanks for the review! Yeah, I thought that putting Caleb and Lawrence into the same virtual world would pretty funny as well as educational. Hopefully Caleb will be able to learn how to fight soon, although that really isn't my main goal. And don't worry, Katlyn and the others will get to Fort Trell.

Philip harbindinger: thanks a whole lot for what you said in your last review. I don't know if I'm good enough I publish actual books, although that is one of my goals in life, I really appreciate the encouragement.

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 **The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is.**

 **Winston Churchill**

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 **Chapter 18**

 **Zan's POV**

My Thunderbolt hit its mark, electrocuting its target. The Grimer was far from through, however, and began to create a sludge bomb. It lobbed the large ball of goo at me in almost no time at all, leaving me no choice but to dodge. I quickly jumped to the side of the open road where we were fighting, just as the sludge bomb made contact with the ground. Sludge flew everywhere causing the entire area to be engulfed in an awful stench.

'If that is all you've got then we will be finished in a few seconds' I thought as Katlyn ordered me to counterattack with a Pin Missile. 'Katlyn, you were making so much progress in gaining my respect and you just blew it.' I mentally chided the young human as I launched the attack…with a slight twist. As I shot the Pin Missile, I charged the pins with electricity. As the Pin Missile soared towards the Grimer, the combined electrical charges shot forward and struck the Grimer, which began to shriek. Its shrieks suddenly were replaced with the impact of the needles that carried the first attack. The pile of goop started to spread across the ground in defeat. I smirked when I heard the pile gurgle.

"Grimer! Delta Formation!" one of the men yelled. The pool of ooze began to reform then split into four copies. The four copies formed a half circle around me. The half circle formation placed two of the clones on my blind side, which made me very uneasy. If that wasn't bad enough, the two copies that I could see began to shrink, that made me assume that the other two were doing the same thing. The Grimer began its attack. The two copies I could see began to create Sludge Bombs. I heard slushing from my blind side and figured that they we trying to surround me. Soon the slushing stopped and the attacks began.

 **Katlyn's POV**

It was obvious that Zan was in trouble. The four Grimer had him completely surrounded, which is never a good sign. The two in front began to launch Sludge Bombs while the two in the back began to charge.

"Zan! Watch out!" I yelled as the attacks hit. Both Sludge Bombs turned out to be fakes, while one of the Take Downs hit Zan in the back. It did take Zan by surprise, but he managed to recover. The Grimer repeated the attack except this time it was a Sludge Bomb that hit. As I watched Zan, something else caught my eye. A large lightning bolt flew straight into the ground in front of me. It was the second man's Raichu. It had a cruel smile on its face as it charged at Basil. It was covered by a bright white light, which then turned into a huge electrical ball. It slammed into Basil without any mercy. Basil let out a large hiss of pain and anger then fell to the ground. I was about to recall him when he slowly began to stir. The Raichu, wheezed heavily, smirking the entire time, but it was obvious that the attack took quite a bit out of the creature. I glanced back at Zan, then to Basil.

'They must have some weakness. They are not invincible. Caleb, I wish you could tell me what to do.' I thought as I watched my friends being beat within an inch of their lives. 'Maybe I should just give up. If I surrender, they might let us go. No, they wouldn't let us go. Besides, I promised Caleb. I can't give up!' I watched the Grimer for a couple more seconds. 'That's it! Every third attack he uses a physical attack!' I yelled successfully in my mind.

"Zan, stiffen your fur on my mark!" Zan nodded weakly and began to look confident again. A few seconds later, the Grimer and its clones attacked. "Zan, do it now!" I yelled. Zan obeyed as the Grimer copies preformed their attacks. When the attacks ended, all of the copies disappeared except for the real one, which was sticking to Zan's fur like a shish kabob. Zan quickly shook it off then stood still. As hurt as it may have been, the Grimer struggled to stay in form.

'Darn, I thought that would have finished it and the Raichu looks like its ready for another bout. What is the common factor? I know that we talked about this is in high school. Think, think! It was something about type disadvantages. Electric is strongest against flying and water but it's weak against rock and what? Rock and ground!'

"Basil! Use any ground move you have on the Grimer! Zan, same with you except on the Raichu!" I yelled, crossing my fingers. Basil nodded then disappeared under the ground. Zan stood in the same place for a few seconds with his eyes closed. Then he opened them with a certain ferocity. He ran at the Raichu catching both it and the Grimer off guard. He then shoved his fore paws into the ground and slung up a mixture of gravel and sand. The onslaught of rocks and debris hit the Raichu in the stomach and head, knocking it out cold. The Grimer, angered at the defeat of its partner, prepared another Sludge Bomb. Before it could however, the ground underneath it began to crack and tremble. Basilisk flew from the hole, hitting the Grimer full force. It flew through the air and hit a nearby tree, knocking it to unconscious. Both owners of the Pokémon stood speechless. When they both saw that my Pokémon were still standing, they began to run away.

"I knew that we should have brought our guns! Charlie, hurry up! We need to get out of here!" the first man yelled as he recalled his Pokémon and jumped into the car. Charlie seemed to have no intentions of quitting. His Pokémon, a Kirlia, kept pressing its attack. It shot purple energy beams from its horns. Marik was struggling to dodge. Every dodge he made was only successful by mere inches, as the Psybeams landed where the cat was only seconds later. However, his luck had finally ended.

"Kirlia, enough playing around. Use Hypnosis and then use Dream Eater." The Kirlia obeyed. It launched several rings of different colored energy at Marik. The energy hit and soon Marik was fighting his drooping eyelids. A few seconds later, he was on the ground in a deep sleep. Then the Kirlia's eyes turned a deep, almost blood colored, red. The sleeping Shinx began to glow the same deep red color. Marik then let out a blood-curdling shriek, as large granules of saturated energy began to pull away from the glow, and into the Kirlia.

"Zan, Basil, stop that Pokémon!" I yelled as Marik continued to squirm and shriek in his sleep. Both Basil and Zan jumped into action. Zan shot several pins at the psychic type and Basil used his Poison Sting. The combination of attacks hit the Kirlia dead on. It shrieked loudly then fell to the ground, defeated. Charlie recalled his Pokémon then turned towards his car only to find that his friends had left without him. He instead ran past us, jumped into our car then pulled away. The car went spending down the road towards the small town of Fort Trell.

"Thanks Katlyn, I owe you one." Sam said as he picked up the sleeping Shinx.

"We need to get to town. Caleb is hurt pretty bad!" I cried.

"Give me your backpack. I put some meds in there before we left for the airport." Sam said, holding his hands out expectantly.

"I left it in the back seat of the car. I didn't want it to get damaged in the fight." I muttered between my sobs. Sam's eyes widened.

"Come on, we need to get there as fast as we can."

 **Third person POV**

"You what?" Giovanni yelled his voice filled with fury. The two men that stood before him began to tremble with fear.

"We failed to extract the agent sir. We had him in our sights. There was a young trainer and a girl just as the Intel predicted, but the intelligence completely underestimated the strength of the girl's Pokémon. Sir, they were heartless monsters. They were merciless, sir." One of the grunts mumbled. Both men were completely pale. The black clothing they wore was quickly becoming damp from their perspiration.

"And I am not merciless? I see I am going to have to fix that." Giovanni said rhetorically. "Just tell me how you two could have been defeated by a mere child? I didn't pick you for this assignment, for you to completely botch it up."

"We took out the two agents with easy, and then we took out one of the girl's Pokémon without breaking a sweat. She then yelled about being tired of being a kid, and sent out two more Pokémon. One was an Arbok, and the other was the Jolteon. We fought but were defeated. There wasn't anything we could do. We drove off as fast as we could. We left Charlie behind because he wanted to finish the mission himself. Sir, it wasn't our fault. Please have mercy on us! You've had it for others, like Jesse and James! So please show us some!" one of the trembling men begged.

"I keep Jesse and James around because the way they screw everything up is comical. I hate them with everything I have but they do know how to make me laugh. You two on the other hand, have never made me laugh. You were given a very important mission and yet you failed it. Not only that, but you have left a member of your team. If the authorities were to catch him, they may have been able to find the location of this base. But since you did find the Jolteon, I decided not to kill you. Lieutenant Charles, take these two men to the good Doctor Mitchel. Surely he could use two strong specimens." Giovanni grinned wickedly. Out of the corner of the office, a darkly dressed man stepped from the shadows, he was only in his mid-twenties but he was built like a weight lifter. As both of the cowering grunts stood about six foot tall each, this man stood about half a foot taller. His blond hair was barely visible through the mostly unlit office. The two grunts looked at him with fear and recognition. "You see, Lieutenant Charles here came back as soon as he could. He came to me and took responsibility for the whole fiasco. He explained everything to me like a man and like a leader. So, instead of punishing him, I promoted him. He doesn't fear me like nearly everyone else here does. He respected me. He was the lowest ranking member of your party, and yet he has more courage then ten of you. Take them to Dr. Mitchel. I don't want to see them again."

"Yes sir, Giovanni!" Charles saluted. He grabbed the men by the arm and single-handedly, dragged them out of the office. Their screams disappeared behind the large oak door. Giovanni smiled then pressed the intercom button on his desk.

"What can I help you with today sir?" a woman's voice answered.

"Send Lieutenant Charles, his orders as soon as he returns from Lab 24.

"Right away sir."

 **Katlyn's POV**

"Don't worry Katlyn, Caleb will be fine. I know you didn't mean to send him out, and I think he knows as well." Sam comforted as we sat in the waiting room of the veterinarian hospital. The difference between a vet and a Pokémon center are the patients. Pokémon Centers are mostly for trainers to use. A vet is mostly for farmer's livestock and pets from the locals. A town like Fort Trell is too small for most trainers to really pay attention to, so they can get away with just a veterinarian hospital. The waiting room was extremely quiet. There was only one other man in the office. He was quite old and didn't say anything to us.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Sam asked his face showing true concern.

"Why do you care? You were just going to let them take me anyways." I mumbled angrily.

"Look, I've been thinking. I was being selfish when I let them take us. I shouldn't have done that, and I'm sorry. I'll take you with me if you still want to, but only on one condition, you tell me the truth." Sam leveled. I thought about it for several minutes. If I told him, he might not believe me. He may accept what I say then decide that I'm too dangerous to keep around, or he might just take me to my parent's house. No matter how you look at it, none of those scenarios is very good. Then again, he could accept me. He might even try to help. I wrestled with these different scenarios until I decided that there was no way around telling him the truth.

"You know, Caleb is more than just a baby Vulpix. He is… he is my brother." I nearly whispered. Sam's face was instantly clouded with confusion and doubt.

"Look, I offered you a chance to continue traveling with me if you told me the truth, not some half thought up fairy tale." He said angrily when he could speak again.

"It's not a lie. Caleb and I's last name is Ward. Caleb is the famous single wielder that everyone has been talking about. I'm his older sister, Kaitlyn Ward." I replied seriously.

"That is impossible. Caleb Ward is about fifteen. You can't be more than seven." Sam replied stubbornly, not that I could blame him.

"Just hear me out ok?" I asked him. He consented and began to tell our story.

"My name is Katlyn Ellen Ward. I was born and raised in Saffron and went to college at the University of Kanto based in Celadon City."

 **Sam's POV**

After finishing her story, Katlyn looked at me with pleading eyes. She really seemed to believe what she was saying and she even had some basis for some of here claims. But I just couldn't accept the fact that this girl could be older then me by ten years. She looked, and sometimes acted, like a seven year old. As for Caleb, I found that more believable, but still farfetched. How could a trainer like Caleb Ward fall victim to a fate such as this? From what I've heard on the radio and TV, he was a top rate trainer, not only on the battlefield, but also outside it. It just didn't seem right that he would be punished by a legendary over a misunderstanding. Then again, Katlyn's story did completely match up with all that's been happening. Not to mention the fact that she could read beyond the reading level of anyone her age. There had to be a way to discredit the story, and I think I know how.

"I'll tell you what. I will believe you if can do two things. The first is that you show me the mark that Banettes leave when they curse something. The second is that you have to take me to the same woods that this supposed Banette lives in, deal?" I asked. I smiled inwardly when I saw Katlyn's turn pale.

"I can show you the mark, but I will not step foot in that forest ever again. Besides, why would you want to go in there?" She replied.

"Because, if there is a Banette in there, I'm going to catch it." I replied in a proud tone. "We don't have to go to the forest right away. I was planning to fly home for Christmas, so we can do it then. So where is this curse mark at?" I asked in all seriousness. Katlyn looked down at here feet then pulled off her left tennis shoe. She took off her sock and showed me the bottom of her foot. On it was a mark that looked somewhat like the eye of a Banette. I grabbed her foot and used some spit to try to clean the mark off. The next thing I knew, there was a flying left shoe hitting me in the forehead. "Hey! What was that for?"

"You are disgusting! You wanted to see the mark, so I showed you! I didn't think you were going to wipe your spit all over my foot!" she yelled back.

"I was trying to see if it was a fake!" I retorted. Katlyn's eyes began to burn angrily.

"If I had made the mark, don't you think I would have put it somewhere else besides my foot?" she asked me. I stopped and thought about it for a second.

"I guess you have a point there." I consented. She gave me the death glare for the rest of the wait.

After another twenty minutes of glares, a nurse came in from the back rooms.

"Miss, your Pokémon is feeling better now. He got hurt pretty bad. In fact, he really shouldn't have been in that fight to begin with. He is just too young. You were very irresponsible, and I hope you learn from this mistake. One more thing before I take you back to see him, does he have a Pokéball?" the nurse asked. Katlyn nodded.

"You do realize that he is too young for a Pokéball at this point. He must not be placed in one unless it's an emergency. The Pokéball can cause young Pokémon to be completely reliant on it. The Pokémon might not want to live in the real world. If that happens, he could die. You must not allow him to be in one until he is about six to eight months old. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I understand." Katlyn replied. She was on the verge of tears.

"Don't worry Katlyn, he'll be fine." I comforted.

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As usual, I hope ya'll enjoyed this chapter. Hopefully I made it obvious enough that Katlyn was going to tell Sam what is going on. Like I said before, I may not be able to update this as fast as I have since school is starting soon. That's all for now, shield out.


	19. Chapter 19

What's up everyone? I didn't think I would be able to finish this before school starts, but here it is. I really hope you guys enjoy the chapter. On with the reviews.

Phillip Harbindinger: I know exactly what you mean. The only reason I'm glad school is starting, is because that means I'm one-step closer to getting a new computer, which I desperately need.

BroadBlueSky: I can understand wait you mean by scary. I figured most Ninetales would be a little unforgiving. If you really want to see a scary Ninetales, you should see Zariff from my story Two Brothers. Now he is pretty scary.

One more thing before we start this chapter. I would like to say that the idea for this came from a review that BYoshi1993 sent in a while back. I don't know if you are still reading this or not but thanks.

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 **We writers, as we work our way deeper into our craft, learn to drop more and more personal clues. Like burglars who secretly wish to be caught, we leave our fingerprints on broken locks, our voiceprints in bugged rooms, our footprints in wet concrete.**

 **Ross MacDonald**

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 **Chapter 19**

 **Caleb's POV**

A bright fluorescent light shone in my face as soon as I woke. The rest of the room was blacked out by the light, but I had a pretty good idea of where I was. Suddenly a door to the left of me opened, revealing a nurse, my sister, and Sam. Katlyn looked like she was about to cry, and Sam looked like an older brother trying to comfort his sister. When I looked at Katlyn, the memory of what had happened flooded back to me. Katlyn walked to the side of the bed I was laying on and placed here hand on my stomach.

"Caleb, I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to send you in. I grabbed the wrong Pokéball, and I…"

"I don't want to hear it Katlyn. Not right now. You nearly got me killed. _"_ I growled. I felt Katlyn quiver slightly, and then withdraw her hand from my stomach.

"Caleb, I just wanted to apologize. It was my fault."

"It was your fault! That attack could have killed me! It felt as though someone had strapped dynamite to my chest then sent me into a nitroglycerin factory! Not to mention the fact that I had poison seeping into me afterwards! _"_ I yelled. Katlyn spun around and dashed out of the room, the sound of sobs echoing from the hallway.

"Look I don't know what you said to her, but she told me everything. About you. About her, and everything else she was trying to do to help you. You need to show her more respect, and be glad you have a sister you can count on to help you." Sam said sternly as he to stormed out after Katlyn.

'Maybe he's right. Wait, Katlyn told Sam!' I thought.

 **Sam POV**

'I guess I believe Katlyn more then I thought.' I mused as I tried to track down Katlyn. I searched throughout the clinic, but didn't find a thing. I then headed out to the parking lot. Katlyn was sitting on a bench in front of the clinic, staring off into the darkness.

"I knew that you wouldn't go too far." I said as I sat down next to her. She didn't say anything, and continued to stare into space. "I'm sure whatever he said he didn't mean. He was just scared, ok?"

"He was right. It was my fault. I'm not some trainer prodigy. I'm just some college student. And now, I can't even be that. This whole journey has been nothing but one disaster after another." She replied, as she began to cry again.

"Why don't you let someone else talk to him for a bit? He may just need to talk to someone aside from his sister." I suggested.

"I guess the best choice for that is Lawrence. He has been my brother's best friend since they were both little." Katlyn replied. She grabbed the small marble from her belt and stared at it. It was an amazing looking Pokéball. It was a deep navy blue on both hemispheres with a deep red equator. There was the letter A in the same deep red on the top hemisphere. The button was also navy blue. Katlyn pressed the center button, and nothing happened. Perplexed, she pressed the button again. Still, there was nothing.

"Here, let me see it." Katlyn handed me the Pokéball. I took it and also tried to open it, but to no avail.

"That's odd. It won't open. I know! Let's go to the library here in town, and look it up!"

"It's probably closed, you moron. It's almost ten o'clock." She muttered.

"Well, we better go find a place to stay tonight, and get some dinner, then we can go in the morning." Katlyn nodded and we went off to find a hotel.

We searched all over town for a place to stay. The best we could find was a cheap place at the edge of town. It was a small rundown joint but at least it was better then sleeping outside. The owners were a questionable couple but they didn't ask about parents or guardians, which was both good and bad.

"Are you sure we have to stay here? I mean it's a pit." Katlyn asked as she looked around the room. It had two old beds with worn sheets. The walls were covered in cheap, green wallpaper, and the floors looked as though it had seen a vacuum cleaner for months. There was a single window that gave a scenic view of the dumpster. The curtains were shabby at best. The last thing in the room was an old dresser drawer with an old TV on top.

"It's either this or the cold hard ground. I don't like this any better than you do, but the rest of my money and gear was in the car. Just like your stuff. This was the only place that was cheap enough." I replied. I really couldn't blame her. The room, and the building for that matter, looked like it should be condemned. "Besides, it is not like we have anyone we can call, or a phone to call with."

"I have a phone. I haven't charged it since yesterday, so I don't know how much battery it has left." Katlyn said as she pulled a small rectangle out of her pocket.

"We still don't have anyone we can call." I replied.

"I could call my parents. They live in Saffron City. Although if I tell them what's going on, they might not let me continue traveling. They might even send me back to grade school."

"That is your decision if you want to call them or not, but we have no money, no gear, and only our Pokémon, and the clothes on our back."

"When you put it that way, I guess I have no choice." Katlyn turned on the phone, and began to dial her parent's number. Katlyn placed the phone on speakerphone and waited. The phone connected then began to ring. After a few minutes, the phone clicked then a woman's voice came through the line.

"Katlyn Ellen Ward! Why haven't you called me!" the voice yelled angrily.

"Hey mom…" Katlyn began.

"Don't you 'hey mom' me! Tell me where you are this instant!"

 **Katlyn's POV**

My heart began to pound as my mom yelled over the phone. I have never felt so afraid in my life until this moment. I looked over at Sam who had just uncovered his ears.

"I'm at Fort Trell. Look I want to tell you something, but I would fell better if I told you in person. Can you meet us at the old castle ruins tomorrow?"

"That can be arranged. I will meet you there as soon as I can. And Katlyn, can you at least explain what is wrong with your voice?" my mother asked in a calmer, more peaceful tone.

"I'll explain all over that tomorrow." I replied. My mother sighed then hung up.

"She took that better then I thought she would." I sighed as placed the phone on the bed.

"So we are heading to the ruins tomorrow, and going to the library? Will we even have time for that?" Sam asked.

"It's like a two hour drive from Saffron to Celadon, not counting traffic, and a four hour drive from here to Celadon. She will probably leave by about eight or so. We have time." I replied.

"As long as you are sure about this, guess we can make it."

Shortly after the phone call, we went to bed. The mattress was surprisingly comfortable, and I instantly fell asleep.

The next morning was a frantic one. We quickly packed what we had then rushed out the door. We quickly ran to the vet and discharged Caleb. He seemed to be in a better mood, but he still wasn't happy with me. After we picked up Caleb, we headed straight for the library.

"Darn it. It doesn't open until nine thirty. What do we do now?" I asked, while I held Caleb in my arms.

"Well, what time is it now?" Sam asked.

"Almost eight thirty."

"I guess we can just walk around town for a while. It's not like we have anything better to do." Sam suggested.

"Yeah, maybe we will even find our stuff to." I replied sarcastically. Sam laughed a little then waved for me to follow him.

The town was fairly quiet as we walked down the streets. We stopped at several computer and game stores for Sam, on the condition that we could go to a clothing shop. The agreement brought nothing but grumbling from Sam, but at least I get to see some things I enjoy looking at.

"Seriously, do we have to look at this stuff? It's not like you can buy it, much less wear any of it." Sam complained as another outfit caught my eye.

"Did I complain when you went to all of those computer stores?" I asked absentmindedly.

"Every single second." Sam retorted as he checked his watch for the millionth time. "It's almost time for the library to open. We better hurry and get there before it gets crowded."

"It's a Friday! Who is going to be at the library on a weekend, the book fairy?" I asked sarcastically.

"Just come on." Sam groaned. I rolled my eyes and followed Sam out the double doors of the store.

We walked down the sidewalk in complete silence. The streets were still mostly deserted, aside from a few other pedestrians. We had almost made it to the library when a hand shot from behind me and grabbed my shoulder, spinning me around in the process.

"Are you Katlyn Ward and Sam Mattlov?" a deep voiced man asked. The man had bright blond hair and stood at least six feet tall.

"Who's asking?" Sam asked defensively, his hand slightly hovering over his Pokéball.

"Just a friend. Actually, I was walking by an alley and a man gave me these. Said that they belonged to you two. He gave me a description and your names. He gave me five hundred bucks to return these bags to you so here I am." The man smiled as he handed Sam the bags. Sam accepted the bags with a shocked expression. "Well my job is done. I hope ya'll enjoy the library!" the man waved goodbye then walked back down the street.

"Did that just happen?" I asked stunned. Sam looked down at the backpacks he had in his hand, and then nodded.

"I just want to know how he knew we were going to the library." Sam said as he handed me my backpack.

"Who knows? Let's just be glad that we got our stuff back." I said happily.

"I guess your right. Let's hurry up and find out what's up with that Pokéball."

 **Man's POV**

"Drop complete. They took the bags, and the tracers are activated. What are my next orders?"

"You are to keep an eye on those two. We are still receiving information from the informant, but Giovanni does not believe it to be very reliable ever since the extraction fiasco." A woman's voice replied through an earpiece.

"Roger that, so after I get off my shift do you want to go have dinner with me sometime?" the man asked with a slight smile.

"It will be a while before you're off this shift. Besides, I wouldn't go out with you even if you were the last man on earth."

"That's a little cold, don't you think?"

"Not in the least. Now, follow your orders and get off this line." The woman replied calmly.

"Fine, I'm off. The kids went into the library just a few minutes ago. I will head inside and find a good vantage point. I will report everything that happens by the end of the day."

"That all sounds fine and dandy except that you are still on the line. So get off and complete your mission Charles!" With that, the line went dead.

 **Caleb's POV**

"What do you mean you can't get Lawrence out of the Pokéball? _"_ I asked in total disbelief.

"I mean that we press the button and nothing happens. It just stays the size of a marble." Katlyn replied as she and Sam began searching through books.

"You have got to be kidding me. How in the world do you break a freaking Pokéball! It's made out of titanium or something, for crying out loud! _"_ I yelled.

"Quiet down. I don't want to be kicked out. At least not until we find out what kind of ball this is." Katlyn whispered.

"Let me see it. I might be able to tell you what it is. _"_ Katlyn placed me on the ground and pulled the ball from her belt. _"_ Where in the world did you get that? _"_

"Those people from the CPS told me to put Lawrence in it. Why, do you know what it is?"

"Yeah, it's called an authority ball. It's the police version of the Master Ball. The government modified them to be able to capture trainer Pokémon. It doesn't matter if they are wild or not it will always catch them. This is the first time I have ever seen one. _"_

"Sam, Caleb said that the Pokéball is an Authority Ball. See if you can find anything about it."

"Ok, ah, here it's. It says here that this Pokéball has just recently been declassified by the government. They are now being used by nearly every homeland security agency and are even in use by some large city police departments. They are not for sale to trainers, and they even have a security code for activation and deactivation. It is still not known what type of lock is used for this particular ball."

"Now we know what kind of Pokéball it is. We just need to figure out how to unlock it."

"We are going to have to figure it out later, because we are going to have to meet your mom pretty soon."

"I guess your right. Come on, we better get going."

 **Katlyn's POV**

The ruins were ginormous. Great chunks of cut stone lay scattered on the ground. Though the outer walls were completely destroyed, the inner walls and castle stood on the hill almost intact. The castle still showed signs of battle damage. Whether it was from an ultra powerful legendary or an invading neighbor, I had no idea. I just hoped that I could find a clue as to the whereabouts of Mew.

"So, what was the real reason you picked this place for the meeting. We could have met her at the hotel, or at a restaurant."

"We talked to her before we got our stuff back, remember? I wasn't going to let her see that crappy hotel we stayed in and we didn't have money for a restaurant. Besides, there is something I want to check out first." I replied.

"And what would that be?" Sam asked curiously.

"Supposedly this place was destroyed by a Mew. I just wanted to see if there were any clues for finding Mew."

"Oh, you mean for your brother?" I nodded and we walked up to the large visitor center. Sam opened the door and we walked inside.

"Can I help you?" a woman in a gray suit asked.

"No thanks, we were just picking up a pamphlet of information about the castle." Sam replied politely.

"Would you like to wait for the tour to begin? The first tour will be happening in about ten minutes."

"No thanks, we will be meeting someone pretty soon."

"Are you meeting a woman?"

"Yeah how did you know?" I asked. The woman looked at me for a second then decided to answer.

"A woman came in here about four hours ago. She said that she was meeting her daughter and her daughter's friend here. She is sitting in the café over there." The woman pointed towards a glass wall that peered into a small café. There were a few people in there. Most of them were the staff. It didn't take me long to spot my mom. I could feel the color drain from my face.

"I thought you said it would take her at least six hours for her to get here."

"It should have, but here she is." That is when I noticed a large fan of tails on the other side of my mom.

"Oh no. she's here." I whispered in fear. Caleb took a peak and began to shiver.

"Katlyn put me down! I'm not going in there. Maggie will eat us alive for putting Lawrence in a Pokéball. She will then kill us for not being able to get him out! _"_ Caleb yelped as he struggled to get loose.

"If I'm going to face the fire, you are to Caleb. Come on Sam this is going to be a bumpy ride."

"Why? What's wrong?" Sam asked.

"Lawrence's mom is in there. She said she would curse us for a week if we ever put Lawrence in Pokéball." I explained quickly. Sam turned slightly pale, and then he began smirked a little.

"Well this should be interesting. At least it's you and him not me." Sam smiled.

"Ten bucks says that Maggie curses Sam to. _"_ Caleb whispered. Even though I was scared out of my wits, I couldn't help but to smile.

"You're on." I whispered back.

"What's on?" Sam asked suspiciously.

"Oh, Caleb and I just made a little bet. Come on. I need to introduce you to my mother." Sam nodded and we headed into the coming storm. I gulped loudly as the glass door was held open and I walked inside. My mother turned to look at the door. When she saw me, her eyes were filled with disbelieving recognition.

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As usual, I hope ya'll enjoy this chapter. As I said before the idea for this chapter came from BYoshi1993, so a special thanks goes to him. I can't wait to get into the next chapter, because I plan to make that one pretty funny. If ya'll have anything to say, be sure to leave it in the reviews. Also, be sure to hit that favorite/follow button if you are enjoying the story. Shieldliger001 signing out.


	20. Chapter 20

Hey, everyone! I have just survived my first week of school. I am happy present another chapter of OMAA. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. So onto the reviews.

Caitou zzzzzz: Thanks for all of your support. I really hope that this chapter surprises you and makes everyone laugh.

Eric566: Thanks for your support as well. I am glad to hear that you have gotten back into fan fiction because of my story. It's really encouraging to know that I am doing something right. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

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 **Good advice is always certain to be ignored, but that's no reason not to give it.**

 **Agatha Christie**

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 **Chapter 20**

 **Caleb's POV**

Despite all of the staff going about their tasks, the room was deathly silent. The tension was so thick; you could cut it with a knife.

"Hi mom." Katlyn whispered as she looked at the ground.

"Katlyn? That can't be you. It's impossible." Mom half-muttered half asked.

"Yeah, it's me. This is Sam. He has been helping me out since the incident." Katlyn introduced.

"Hello, I'm Samuel Mattlov. It's nice to meet you." Sam said as he held out his hand. Mom accepted his hand and shook it softly.

"So, Sam, when did you become a Pokémon trainer?" Mom asked. She tried not to stare at Katlyn. Katlyn placed me on the ground then pulled out a chair, and Sam did the same.

"Well, it has been about a month by now. Would you like to see my starter?"

"If it's no trouble." Mom replied. Her tone was filled with anguish, but she tried not to show it. Sam opened his Pokéball and Marik took form.

"This is Marik, my Shinx. Professor Oak let me have him since I was taking Katlyn with me." Sam picked up the Shinx and placed him on his lap. The Shinx looked at my mom curiously then looked up at Sam.

"He seems to be very healthy. It's rare for any Professor to give out a non-standard Pokémon, congratulations." Mom said softly. She then looked directly at Katlyn.

"Katlyn, please tell me what happened." Mom asked with pleading eyes. Katlyn sighed then began to recount the tale. I was so engrossed in Katlyn's version of the story, that I didn't realize that Maggie had sat behind me.

" _Where is Lawrence?"_ she asked me telepathically so she wouldn't interrupt Katlyn. I quickly spun around to face her.

"Don't worry, he's fine. Katlyn is just about to get to that part. _"_ I said with a slight whimper. Maggie gave me a warning glare then returned her gaze to Katlyn.

"We then were picked up by the CPS because of the airport policy on children. That's when they forced me to put Lawrence in a Pokéball." Those last four words set Maggie off like a rocket. She jumped to her feet and began to growl.

"Let him out this instance!" she ordered. Katlyn looked at mom with worried eyes. Mom returned her gaze with a look that read 'this is your problem.'

"Maggie, I tried. I really did, but it has a passcode on it and I don't know what it is." Katlyn pleaded. Maggie's eyes flickered over towards Sam, then back to Katlyn.

"Did that boy have anything to do with it? While we are at it, did Caleb have anything to do with it? _"_ Maggie asked with a low growl.

"Caleb had nothing to do with this one. Sam was with me when it happened, but he didn't have anything to do with it."

"Did he not try and stop you from going through with this… this atrocity? _"_

"Well, no, but that's because he didn't know anything about!" Katlyn defended.

"He should have stopped you! I'm done talking to you about this. I'll come up with a punishment after you are done with your story _"_ the Ninetales huffed. Katlyn looked as if she were about to cry, but she managed to hold the tears in and continued her story.

"That's when we figured out that the Pokéball has a code. After that, we came straight here. We didn't think that you would be here before us." Katlyn finished. Maggie then looked directly into Katlyn's eyes, and then smiled mischievously. Katlyn squeezed her eyes shut as she prepared for the coming punishment.

" _I have decided that both of you will be punished for letting my son get placed in one of those vile contraptions."_ She said with a slow quiet tone. Sam began to say something in his defense, but Maggie cut him off _. "Do not protest, because I will not be persuaded otherwise."_ Sam seemed to be paralyzed for the moment out of fear, but then closed his eyes tightly. Maggie sent me a mysterious smirk, and then swiped her tails over both Katlyn and Sam. However, something wasn't right. When she punished me, her eyes glowed a deep blue. This time, her eyes didn't glow, nor did Sam. Katlyn did glow slightly but it was barely noticeable. "It is done. If you touch anything that is alive, you will swap places with that creature for one hour. This will last for two days." She said in satisfaction. Katlyn and Sam both looked horrified, and looked at each other. They quickly scrambled away from each other.

"Maggie, what did you actually do? _"_ I whispered to the much larger Ninetales.

" _Absolutely nothing, Caleb, well at least not to the boy. I knew that Katlyn had been through a lot lately, so I went easy on her this time. As for the other one, I just wanted to plant the seed of caution in him. I wasn't actually going to curse him."_ She explained.

"It was all just a trick. Darn it, I lost the bet. I won't be telling Katlyn. _"_ Maggie nodded with a slight smirk. I looked up with a smile at the two kids. Sam was on the opposite side of the room by now trying to avoid a waiter who was in a rush to get back to the kitchen.

" _What bet?"_ Maggie asked with some slight confusion.

"I told Katlyn that you would curse both her and Sam. She said the opposite. Now I owe her ten bucks."

" _Caleb, what do you need money for? It's not like you can really spend it on anything."_ Maggie asked.

"I guess you have a point." I replied.

"Maggie, you can be so bad sometimes." Mom said with a chuckle.

"This was the same punishment that happened to me when I was a kit. I didn't dare touch anything that moved for a month. It was torture when I was young. _"_ Maggie laughed as we watched Katlyn, jump away from a fly that was buzzing around the room.

"I better get these two thinking of something else before they lock themselves in the broom closet. Sam and Katlyn, let's go enjoy the castle before we leave!" Mom shouted. Katlyn gave a worried nod as she tried to dodge the fly once again. Sam on the other hand, was backed into a corner by Marik. The little cat was smiling the entire time as he neared his trainer. Sam was reaching frantically for his Pokéball, only to realize that it was still on the table.

"Marik, back off for now. We can get him later. _"_

"Fine, whatever, I was just having some fun. After hearing, what the Ninetales said to you, I thought it would be funny. You wouldn't believe how long it has since I've been able to have some fun.

"Thanks Caleb. I owe you one." Sam thanked. I smirked and took a step towards him. Sam's eyes widened and he took a step back.

"Caleb Ward! That is enough. Leave the poor boy alone." Mom said sternly.

"Yes ma'am." I muttered. Mom went over to the double doors and held one of them open. Katlyn quickly slipped through with Sam following a few feet behind.

As we walked through the demolished castle, Katlyn and Sam stayed about ten feet away from each other. They also kept a look out for anything that was crawling, flying, or hanging around. The inside of the castle was almost as destroyed as the outside. Walls were broken down, showing other, non-related rooms. Large hallways had gaping holes, which let sunlight shine through. There were even staircases that had been roped off because they had been destroyed.

"I always wanted to visit this place. My dad used to tell me about it when I was little. He said that, despite the ruin and chaos that happened here, it was peaceful. _"_ Marik said with awe as we entered the Throne room. It was a large open room, with columns on either side. Most of the columns had been charred by whatever had happened in this room. The throne was a large stone chair. It was carved with such delicate detail that it almost made the chair surreal. The back of the throne was damaged, however, with a large diagonal chunk missing. _"_ So what are we looking for again?" Marik asked as he stared at the massive room.

"We are looking for anything that has to do with Mew. Or any clues as to where one may be, or an idea of where we can search for another clue. _"_ I replied. Katlyn walked towards the throne and crouched on the ground. She seemed to be looking at something.

"What are you looking at Katlyn? _"_ I asked as I padded to where she was standing. I stood extremely close to Katlyn, which caused her to quickly scoot away for a moment.

"This stone. It's different from the rest of the floor. It's a different shade and it seems to be looser. Sam come look at this." Katlyn said as she wiggled the stone slightly. Just as Sam had reached Katlyn's side, Katlyn pressed down on the stone. As she pressed it down, a panel slid down on the front of the throne.

"What in the world is that?" Mom asked as she went up to the now open panel. She reached her hand into the compartment. "AAAAHHHH!" she screeched as she quickly drew back her hand.

"Mom what's wrong! Are you ok?" Katlyn yelled in fear. I quickly rushed up to her. I looked at her hand with confusion. There was nothing wrong with her hand.

"Gotcha. I got you good." She laughed as she showed everyone her hand.

"That wasn't very funny." Katlyn said with a small smile.

"What was in the throne, Mom? _"_ I asked.

"It felt like an old book. Here let me get it out." She reached back into the compartment and pulled out an old leather book. "Huh, it's hand written." She said as she flipped through the pages.

"Can you read any of it?" Sam asked as he peeked at the book.

"Nope, not a word. Hey what's this?" Mom pulled out a thin piece of parchment. It was yellowed with age. Mom carefully unfolded it and held it close to the nearby sunlight. "It looks to be a map of Kanto, but it doesn't have any of the main cities on it. It is showing several boundaries. Almost as if, they are separate countries, or kingdoms."

"What is that?" Katlyn asked as she pointed to a large black check near the eastern edge of the map. There was something illegible written in the same black ink.

"That is modern day Lavender Town. I recognize the small mountain chain up north." Sam said as he to crowd in to take a look at the new discovery.

"Let's put this away for now and get to the car. I was at your grandparents in Celadon, when you called me last night. They might even be able to read this." Mom said as she carefully placed the old parchment map back into the book, and then placed the book into her purse. As we turned around to leave, Katlyn tripped. Maggie wasn't paying attention. She flopped right on top of her. Maggie stared down at Katlyn in disbelief with Katlyn returning her gaze with one of shear terror. Suddenly both Maggie and Katlyn began to glow blue. They glowed brighter and bright until they both disappeared, from view. When the light dimmed, both the Katlyn and Maggie had their eyes closed.

"Um… Katlyn? Maggie? Are ya'll ok?" I asked nervously.

"Talk about ironic." Maggie said as she tried to sit up in Katlyn's body. "Katlyn, you are going to have to get off of me." She muttered as she tried to push her original body of her.

"What just happened? Holy crap! I'm Maggie! This is so cool! _"_ She yelled exuberantly.

"You just switched bodies with a Ninetales and the first thing you say is 'cool'?" Marik asked in disbelief.

"Well, yeah. Wouldn't you? _"_ Katlyn replied.

"Girl, you are insane! _"_ Marik said incredulously.

"What? I all ways thought it would be cool to be a Ninetales. _"_ Katlyn said defensively.

"Can somebody please help me out here?" Maggie asked with no small amount of annoyance.

"I would but I don't want to switch bodies with you. I don't want to be a girl." Sam muttered.

"Look I didn't curse you. I just wanted to get the idea that I would if I needed to, stuck in your head. It was just a trick." Maggie said almost furiously. As what Maggie had said sank in, Katlyn began to struggle to get up.

"Caleb, I win! _"_ she exclaimed, as she successfully got to her feet.

"If you want my money, you are going to have to catch me first. _"_ I replied as I took a few steps away from her. She was still trembling slightly, showing me that she had no idea how to walk. She took a step forward then fell flat on her face. I couldn't help but laugh.

"Will somebody please help me up?" Maggie yelled.

"Here let me help." Sam said as he helped Maggie to her feet.

"How can you people move like this?" Maggie asked as she leaned on Sam's shoulder.

"Practice. Lot's and lot's of practice." Mom said with a half-hidden smile.

"Wait, maybe I can make my body older again. _"_ Katlyn whispered almost to herself. She then got up and sort of waddled over to Maggie and Sam.

"Katlyn, I don't think that is a good idea. Maybe you should just ask Maggie about it when you switch back. _"_ I suggested, but she paid no heed.

"Dude, I have a sister. They think they know best. I'd say let her try it, so she will get it out of her system. _"_ Marik said as Katlyn wobbled to her original body.

"Katlyn, what are you doing?" Maggie asked nervously.

"I just want to see if I can make myself older again. _"_ She replied nonchalantly.

"No, don't do that! You don't know how cursing works! It can take a lot of energy, especially if you don't know what you are doing!" Maggie exclaimed in panic.

"Oh come on. It can't be that hard. You just swish your tails around and your eyes glow. It should be a cinch. _"_ With that, she did exactly what she said. Since Maggie wasn't good on her feet, she just stood there, paralyzed.

"Mom, do something! _"_ I yelled as Katlyn made contact with Maggie.

"Katlyn, stop this instant!" she yelled, but it was too late. Katlyn's eyes glowed blue, as did Maggie, and then Sam! The entire room was enveloped in a bright blue light. Just as fast as it had started, it all ended. "Is everyone ok?" Mom asked when we could all somewhat see again.

"No, I am anythwing wut ok!" a high-pitched voice said angrily. At first, I thought it was Maggie, but something wasn't right. As my vision cleared, I looked over towards where Katlyn was standing.

"I twold you not to do twat, wut no you widn't wisten to me. Bet you are weally tired now aren't you?" A second, smaller voice said. I looked over at Katlyn to see her collapsed on the ground panting. Just behind her were two small figures. I rubbed my eyes with my paws to make sure I wasn't imagining anything. When they were both still there, I realized what Katlyn had done. She regressed, not only her own body, but Sam's also. They both seemed to be about three years old. "It's a gwood thing that I made the switch only eight minutes instead of a hwour."

"That's not a good thing for me. _"_ Katlyn muttered.

"It serves wou right!" Sam yelled angrily.

We waited another five minutes or so for the swap to take place. Mom decided that Katlyn had enough freedom for the day and picked her up so she wouldn't cause any more trouble, much to her disapproval. Sam was allowed to walk freely as long as he came with us to our car. Apparently, mom felt that he was her responsibility, since it was Katlyn's fault that he was like that. As we walked through the visitor center, the staff was staring at us. They saw a woman, a Ninetales, a Vulpix, a Shinx, and two kids go in, but now the saw the same woman carrying a grumpy toddler, followed by a second toddler, and three Pokémon, come out.

"Maggie, don't ever do that again. This is just turning into one big fiasco." Mom demanded. The Ninetales agreed as we headed to the car.

"Will you be able to change them back? Because I don't think I will be able to handle a two year as my trainer. _"_ Marik asked.

"I may be able to change one of them back by tomorrow evening. It is a lot harder to break a curse then it's to implement one. It also takes more energy. Katlyn did a good job of using all of my energy today. I can barely walk straight as it is. _"_

"Well crap. I don't have any car seats so I guess you two are going to have to keep your heads down."

"Yes ma'am." Katlyn said as she struggled into the car, and into her seat. Mom helped her get buckled up, and then helped Sam do the same.

 **Charles' POV**

"Charles, report."

"What should I start with? Well the subjects have just left Green Landing castle. They were in the castle for several hours. Nothing really happened until they reached the throne room. Somehow, they found a secret compartment with some old book in it. Then a few weird events happened. I'm still not sure if they were real. Anyways, they are now on the highway heading east. It looks as though they are getting off at the Celadon exit. I will continue my reconnaissance, over." Charlie said as he merged into the exit lane.

"Very good Charles. Keep your eyes and ears open." With that, the line went dead.

 **Third Person POV**

Giovanni walked into the intelligence room with determination.

"What have you found out, Major?" he asked as the man he was talking to saluted.

"We are still receiving information from Joshua Marik. His info is matching Lieutenant Charles to a tee. The Jolteon test subject is with the girl, although she does not call on him regularly. We are still trying to decode the rest of Marik's information but it will take time. What we do have is very interesting." The major said as he handed Giovanni a manila folder.

"Interesting, this may be even more useful then that Jolteon. Dr. Mitchel what do you make of this?" Giovanni asked as the older doctor walked in through the glass doors. Giovanni handed the folder to the doctor and waited for a reply.

"Scientifically, this doesn't make any sense. We have tried to stop the aging process in Biotech lab 24. Every subject died within two years. There is no way a complete reversal is possible." The scientist replied without a doubt.

"Have you heard of the legends that certain Pokémon have the power to curse objects?" Giovanni asked.

"Everyone has heard those stories. I devoted my college years to finding any trace that proved those legends correct. I did not find a single piece of viable evidence." Mitchel replied.

"Well, Dr. Mitchel, I suggest that you reopen your research, because that girl has risen up a rung on our priority list." Giovanni turned to leave but then stopped. "Oh, before I forget. What were the results of the tests with the nano bots?"

"We showed that the bots boost regeneration of human cells by one hundred and fifty percent. However, the body rejects the bots nearly as fast as we can inject them. One of the subjects died of metal poisoning, because the body can't seem to dispose of the bots after it destroys them. The metallic build up then poisons the bloodstream."

"Keep trying. I have faith that you can get to the end results we want. In the meantime, Major, keep your eye on the girl. I want to know everything you can learn about her." The leader of Team Rocket ordered.

"Yes sir!" the man saluted.

* * *

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I had a lot of fun writing this one. I was reading the latest chapter of Return of the Cursed Gift when I noticed a review from BroadBlueSky. When I looked at it, I couldn't help but smile at what the review said, so a big thumbs up for BroadBlueSky. Anyway, if you have anything to say you know what to do. If you like, the story smash that favorite/follow button. Talk to ya'll later, shieldliger001 out.


	21. Chapter 21

Hey everyone, Shield here. I am very excited about this chapter because it is over five thousand words, without the A/N and the chapter quote! I also noticed that OMAA has over forty reviews, and has surpassed TB by over ten thousand words! So consider this chapter the celebration chapter. Thanks for all of your support, on to the reviews!

Philip Harbindinger: It's ok, if you don't review every chapter. I was wondering what exactly you didn't like about the last chapter, and you wanted, you could send me a pm telling me what you didn't like, so I can try to work on it. As for the updates, I would have to say that school has caused me to want to work on this even more.

Caitou zzzzzz: As I said in the last chapter, I wanted to lighten the mood a bit. I am glad that you thought it was funny. I really had a Freaky Friday stuck in my head when I wrote that chapter lol.

* * *

 **There is something advantageous about having people underestimate your intellect, insomuch as a lot of things are revealed to you. They assume you don't know what you're talking about, then all of a sudden, you do. And the next thing you know, you have information you wouldn't normally have.**

 **Ashton Kutcher**

* * *

 **Chapter 21**

 **Caleb's POV**

A couple of hours later and we pulled into Celadon City. Mom decided that it would be best if we stayed at a hotel since it would be somewhat hard to explain why Katlyn was a three year old to Grandma and Grandpa. As mom checked into the hotel, Sam was staring down at Marik. He hadn't even considered putting the Shinx away, since we got to the castle. He had barely spoken a word since the incident, except when Katlyn tried to apologize. He had plenty to say about that. Even though he tried to put on a hard face, I could somehow tell that he wasn't completely mad.

"Ok so we have a room. Let's get settled in and then we can get something to eat." Mom said as she picked up our things. We headed to the elevator and went up to our room.

We were pretty quick about dropping our things off. Maggie said that she wanted to stay and rest so mom let her stay. The rest of us went back down to the car and left to eat.

 **Sam's POV**

"How long do you think until I can change back?" I asked slowly and precisely, as to not sound like a toddler.

"Maggie said that she thinks she will have enough energy to attempt it tomorrow morning. I trust her judgment." Mrs. Ward replied, as she pulled into a burger joint. The sign read MYO Original Burgers.

"You should enjoy this restaurant Sam. You can create your own custom burger straight down to the meat." Katlyn said with a hollow smile, she to, was speaking slowly.

"Look, wou don't have to be wepressed. It was an accident." I said. I began to blush slightly when I realized that some of my words came out weird.

"Come on, the food won't get any fresher with you two standing around." Mrs. Ward called as she held the door open. Both Caleb and Marik were already walking inside.

"Come on, I'm hungrwy." I said as I went towards the door. Katlyn finally decided to respond and followed after me.

The inside of the restaurant was covered in old antiques. Mrs. Ward went up to the counter and waited for someone to seat us.

"Thank you for picking MYO Original Burgers. How many people will be dining today?" a girl who was maybe in her late teens asked. She was really kind of cute.

"One adult, two kids and two Pokémon." Mrs. Ward answered. The girl looked over the counter at us then looked at the Pokémon that were down by our feet. Katlyn noticed me staring at the girl then nudged me slightly with her elbow.

"Dude she is about seventeen years too old for you." She whispered with a snicker.

"That gap would be smaller if it weren't for you." I hissed.

"Just watch, she won't even notice you, except to say that you are a cute kid."

"Will you need any booster seats?" the girl asked. That was when my heart was ripped in half. Mrs. Ward looked at me and Katlyn then said no. "Since you have Pokémon, I am assuming that you will want to be seat in the Pokémon zone." Mrs. Ward nodded yes and the girl led us to our table.

Our table was on the far side of the building near the windows. There were a few other people with Pokémon in this area, but otherwise the room was empty. The girl placed down a menu in front of Mrs. Ward, then placed two coloring sheets in front of Katlyn and me.

"How humila... humiliad… argh! How embarrw… you all know what I mwean." Katlyn said in frustration.

"You are the one who got yourself into this situation." Mrs. Ward said dismissively.

"Um, Mrs. Ward? Do you know anythwing about the gym leadder here?" I asked. I burned with embarrassment as I spoke.

"I know a little, but not much. I know that Erika stepped down as gym leader about a month ago and allowed her son to take her place. I haven't heard much about him, except that he is a grass type trainer, just like his mother, he matches his Pokémon to what the trainer has. Meaning, if you have only a single Pokémon, then he'll only battle with one Pokémon also." She said. "Oh and he uses a random Pokémon each battle. One day he could be battling with a Bellsprout, but the next battle he could be using a Wormadam."

"Do you think we could go to the gym tomorrow?" I asked.

"I'm sorry, but tomorrow will be too late. They will be closing down the gym for annual repairs. It will be a whole week before they will open up again." Mrs. Ward apologized.

"Great, jwust great." I muttered, not even caring that I had messed up on another word.

"I dwon't see what the big deal is. Just go today before the closes down the gym." Katlyn spoke up. "You can compete in gym battles no matter what age, as long as you have a Pokémon. The Trainer ID is just a badge that allows you to participate in the league and allows you to use the Pokémon Center facilities for free. You can still get the badge, if, you win."

"That is true. If you want, we can go there after lunch." Mrs. Ward confirmed. My mood drastically improved. I was beaming with unquenchable energy. I don't know if it was the prospect of fighting in my first Pokémon gym battle, or if was just because I had more energy now that I was younger, either way I was excited.

"Hey Marwick! We are going to our first gym battle after lunch." I exclaimed, not even caring if I mispronounced his name.

 **Marik's POV**

"Congrats man, hope you have fun at your first gym battle. _"_ Caleb congratulated as I stood there in shock. My tail swished back and forth nervously as I processed what my trainer turned tot, had said.

"Crap, well, I'm going to die." I said when I could speak again.

"Don't worry. You'll do fine." Caleb encouraged.

"What would you know? You can't even quit drinking from a bottle; much less defeat another Pokémon. I've fought another Pokémon before. It was like something out of a nightmare, not to mention that it was painful. _"_ I ranted. When I looked over towards the young Vulpix, I saw that what I had said had really hurt him. His eyes were tearing up, and he began to sniffle a bit.

"You don't know what it's like to be truly helpless. I was forced out of my body into this…this, form! I can't do anything without someone's help. I can't eat by myself. I can't protect myself. I can't even watch TV without someone handling the remote. _"_ He cried.

"I…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you upset. I know what you're going through."

"Have you ever been thrown into a completely alien body before? _"_ he asked through teary eyes. What could I say? If I told him, Giovanni wouldn't fund my family or allow me to leave the organization. On the other hand, I hate Team Rocket's guts. If I told them, about who I really was, then they may be able to help take down the organization. My conscience told me I should tell them, but I decided against it.

"No, I haven't." I lied. I felt as though a piece of me had died.

"Then don't say that you know what it's like! _"_ the small fox ran over to his mother and hid under the chair.

"I do know. More then you think." I whispered to myself. My family would most likely hate me if they knew what I was doing, but this was the only way I could help them.

 **Caleb's POV**

I waited under the table for the remainder of lunch. I knew that Marik, most likely didn't mean what he said, and I shouldn't have exploded at him as I did. Mom and Sam continued to talk about the gym until the waitress came. Mom, much to the displeasure of Sam and Katlyn, ordered them food from the kids menu. Once the waitress had left, she told both of them that probably wouldn't eat all their food anyways. The food quickly came, and the waitress passed out the plates. Just as Mom had predicted, neither Sam nor Katlyn finished. It didn't take long for Mom to pay the bill and for us to pile back into the car.

The gym was near the center of town. Like Sam, this was where my first gym battle was, although I fought Erika, not her son. There were already signs that the gym was going to undergo maintenance. There was large scaffolding all over the flower like roof of the gym, and unopened paint cans around the outside of the building. Mom parked the car and we all walked in.

"Is the gym still open? We saw all of the equipment outside and thought it might already be closed." Mom asked a woman behind the counter.

"Yes, we are still open until tomorrow. Do you want to battle the leader?"

"No, not me. My daughter's friend." Mom replied as she motioned towards Sam. The woman looked at Sam then looked back my mom.

"Are you sure about this? The boy is cute and all, but this is for a gym badge, not a daycare." She said bluntly.

"Look, he wants to battle in a gym battle. If he gets out of hand, I will take care of him. Is there anything else?" Mom asked impatiently

"Yes, you need a minimum of two Pokémon, and we will need you to sign this since he is under ten." The woman said as she handed Mom a permission slip form.

"Two? Last I checked; you only needed one."

"The leader got bored with everyone bringing only one Pokémon, so to make it more interesting, he changed the limit to a Two Pokémon minimum." Sam looked at the ground in disappointment. "Will that be a problem?" the woman asked.

"Oh no, that won't be a problem." Mom said as she signed her name at the bottom of the slip and handed it back.

"Alright, I will let the Gym Leader know that he has a challenger." The woman said with an almost unheard chuckle.

"Mrs. Ward, I don't have another Pokémon." Sam said quietly.

"Don't worry Hun. Katlyn is going to let you borrow one of hers." Mom replied reassuringly.

"I am not!" Katlyn protested.

"You will because I am your mother, and I told you to. It's the least you can do for what you did earlier." Mom said sternly. Katlyn, begrudgingly, unclipped her Pokéballs from her belt. Then she handed them to mom. Mom opened all three Pokéballs. Within seconds, two electric types and a poison type were out in the open air.

"I need a volunteer to help Sam with his gym battle. Does anyone want to help?" Katlyn asked. Not a single one moved. Seeing that there wasn't going to be any volunteers Katlyn sighed and looked at mom.

"Zan, how about you?" Katlyn asked. The Jolteon huffed then turned away. "Right, the whole 'I hate humans' thing. How about you Basil?" The snake stared at Katlyn long and hard.

"I only follow my Mistress. You are not her. _"_ He hissed.

"Basil, it weally is me!" she moaned.

"If you truly are my Mistress. Then I mussst ssstay by your ssside. _"_ The Arbok replied.

"Jack you are my last hope." Katlyn muttered to the small mouse. The young mouse looked up at Katlyn and smiled.

"I'll help him. It will give me a chance to use some moves I've been practicing with Zan. _"_

"Thanks Jack. I owe you one." Katlyn smiled

"We will be in the bleachers cheewing you on." Katlyn smiled slightly, her cheeks slightly red for the mispronunciation.

"What moves does he know?" I asked. Katlyn shrugged. Sam sighed, annoyed slightly, and pulled out his Pokédex.

"Scan complete. Pichu, the tiny mouse Pokémon. It plays with others by touching tails and setting off sparks. This appears to be a test of courage. Would you like to know more information?" the electronic voiced box beeped. Sam pressed a button and the Pokédex pulled up a list of bio info.

"Let's see. He knows Thunder Shock, Charm, Sweet Kiss, Nasty Plot, Thunder Wave, Bide, Fake Out and Volt Tackle?" Sam said stunned.

"Is there something wrong with that?" Katlyn asked defensively.

"Those last three only come from a parent. They are some of the best moves you can use in a battle. He is probably the strongest Pichu you will ever find." Sam said in utter amazement.

"I think I hear someone coming. We better put Jack away until after the battle." Katlyn whispered. She then placed Jack back inside the Pokéball and handed it to Sam.

A few minutes later and we were all ushered into the main gym battlefield. The field was covered with shrubs and miniature trees that made the room seem like a small jungle. The roof was completely made of glass, which allowed sunlight to filter through onto the plants below. Sam was sent into a blue Trainer's box, were he had a great view of the entire battlefield.

"My name is Samuel Mattlov. I am here to challenge the gym leader." Sam shouted; his high-pitched voice firm and calm.

"I am Mordecai Applebaum, son of Erika Applebaum and Leader of this gym. I accept your challenge." A young man's voice yelled from the opposite side of the room. The gym leader walked through a large set of double doors on the opposite side of the room. The leader couldn't have been more then sixteen years old. He wore a traditional black gi with a green belt. There was a stylized version of the rainbow badge emblazoned over his left arm. The young man resembled his mother in more ways then one. He had the same black hair that his mother had, although it was much shorter. He also had the same green eyes that seemed to shine like the light shining off the greenery. His pale skin also matched his mother's to the tee. "Before we start, are you sure you want to battle. When we start I will not go easy on you."

"I wouldn't want you to." Sam replied boldly.

"You have guts kid. I will give you that." The Leader said sounding impressed. Sam began to speak, but was cut off by the referee.

"This is a two on two, battle. Each trainer will send out one Pokémon at a time. The battle will end when one trainer is out of usable Pokémon, or he is disqualified. There will be no substitutions. If the battle ends in a draw. The challenger will automatically be named the winner. Are you ready?" The ref yelled as he readied his two flags. Time seemed to slow down as the ref held his flags. The flags fluttered and rippled as the ref threw down the flags. "Fight!" Time immediately seemed to speed back up. The two trainers released their first Pokémon.

 **Sam's POV**

I quickly drew off Jack's Pokéball from my belt, and enlarged it to its full size.

"Go Jack!" I yelled as I threw the ball like a baseball, without the windup. In seconds, there was a bright flash as the ball released its captive. The little mouse appeared already in a battle stance.

"Go Pokémon!" Mordecai yelled as he summoned a ball from the inside of his gi. The ball shimmered and shined as it flew through the air. After the initial flash, a small Sunkern sat on the ground, unmoving.

"Argh, really guys? You guys gave Sunkern to me four battles in a row. You are supposed to pick randomly!" Mordecai yelled up at the ref and two others that had just now joined him.

"Morde, you should spend time with all of the Pokémon here, not just the ones you like." A woman next to the ref yelled.

"I do spend time with him! I take him home with me all of the time! I don't let him battle because he is my friend and I don't want him to get hurt, and stop calling me Morde. You know I hate that!" Mordecai yelled back. The same woman began to speak again but the ref interrupted her and told her to leave if she was going to be distracting. The woman huffed and sat down.

"Sorry about that, now we can get back to our battle. Sunkern, use Sunny Day!" Mordecai ordered. The Sunkern shot a bright ball of energy up in the air. The ball exploded, flooding the entire area with light.

"Now use Solar Beam!" the Sunkern opened its mouth and a large beam of yellow energy launched towards Jack.

"Jack dodge, then counter with a Thunder Wave!" The little mouse charged at the seed-like creature dodging a counter-Solar Beam from the Sunkern. The little mouse's cheeks began to spark as a weak electrical arc shot towards the Sunkern, striking the motionless seed. The Sunkern began to tremble and shake as the electricity coursed through its body. Jack quickly got back on my side before the Sunkern could counter-attack.

"Sunkern, use Grassy Terrain, then use Ingrain!" the Sunkern closed its eyes and the ground below it began to glow. The ground abruptly erupted with fresh green stalks of grass. The entire dirt floor turned lush and green.

"Jack! Stop the Swunkern before it uses  
Ingrain!" I yelled. Jack was too far for a physical attack. That would mean he would have to use a more powerful electrical attack, which could do more harm than good. Jack didn't seem worried. He took off like a bolt of lightning towards the Sunkern. As he ran, his cheeks began to spark and crackle. Then they erupted with electrical energy. The arc of yellow energy slammed into the Sunkern, interrupting its Ingrain move. The Sunkern managed to stay wake from the Thunder Shock. It then began to glow slightly. Some of the burn marks began to slowly dissipate. It still looked weak, but it was becoming more confident.

"Sunkern use Solar Beam, and then try to use Ingrain!" Mordecai ordered. Before Jack could blink, a Solar Beam hit him from almost point-blank range. The blast sent Jack flying back towards me. As Jack struggled to recover, the Sunkern sprouted roots, which instantly shoved themselves in the ground. The effect was almost instant. Left over burns from the Thunder Shock had completely disappeared. The Sunkern had completely healed itself.

"Sunkern, use Seed Bomb!" Mordecai yelled. The Sunkern glowed, a dark green hue. Several large seeds seemed to just be plucked out of the ground like a carrot or a radish. The seeds also glowed, a dark green as the Sunkern willed them to fly towards Jack.

"Jack use Bide!" I yelled desperately. Jack crouched into a bracing position on his four legs, and then stood stone still. The seeds flew and slammed into Jack the explosions from the seeds were twice the size of the regular attack.

'Crap, Grassy Terrain isn't only healing, Sunkern, it's also doubling the attack power.' I winced as the cloud of smoke blew away. Jack was still standing. He seemed to have taken the majority of the damage. He was breathing roughly but he managed to stay put.

"Sunkern, he has just about had it, use Solar Beam!" the Sunkern opened its mouth and began to quickly charge the energy. Jack stared at the Sunkern in terror. The Sunkern began to launch the attack, but it suddenly froze. It began to convulse rapidly, and the Solar Beam energy dissipated.

"Jack, it's paralyzed. Hurry and finish using Bide!" I yelled nervously. Jack nodded and took off. He as ran he was covered in a dark orange-red colored light. The Sunkern, still paralyzed, stared wide eyed at the incoming bullet. Then Jack struck. He hit with at least double the force of the Seed Bomb, causing the Sunkern to be ripped from its roots and thrown to Mordecai's side of the battlefield.

"Sunkern!" Mordecai shouted. To my amazement, the seed Pokémon managed to get back up. Mordecai smiled softly. "Sunkern, use Solar Beam one more time!"

"Jack, use Fake Out!" I yelled, praying that Jack had enough time to get to his opponent. Jack took off running. He neared the Sunkern just before it launched its Solar Beam. He began to punch the Sunkern, causing it to flinch. Before he hit, he slapped the grass type with his short black tail, causing very little damage, but it managed to buy us sometime.

"Jack, use Volt Tackle!" I yelled. Jack nodded tiredly at me, and then jumped away. He began to charge as if he was using tackle, but was soon engulfed in a raging electric field. Before Mordecai could order a counter, Jack hit with electrified force. The hit caused dirt, dust, and grass to fly everywhere. When the debris cleared, both Pokémon were on the ground unconscious.

"Pichu and Sunkern are unable to battle. Trainers, recall your Pokémon and send out your next Pokémon!" the referee announced.

"Good job kid. You handled that like a pro, but don't get too cocky. It might just cause you to lose." Mordecai said approvingly.

"Thanks, you did great with your Swunkern, I mean Sunkern." I corrected myself.

"Go Pokémon!" Just as before, the Pokéball opened with a flash. The light quickly disappeared revealing a Leafeon.

'If the last Pokémon is any indication, then this should be pretty challenging.' I clutched Marik's Pokéball tightly. Looking down at it, I realized that this would be a test to see how much we trusted each other. Enlarging the ball, I tossed it with all my might.

"Go Marik!" I yelled. The second part of the fight was on.

"Leafeon, use Sunny Day!" The Leafeon opened its mouth and shot a ball of bright energy into the air. The room returned to its bright state. "Now use Hyper Beam!" the Leafeon Opened its mouth again and a purple energy ball formed. The Leafeon shot it and the ball turned into a large purple beam.

"Marik dodge and counter with Thunder Bolt!" Marik dodged, but he was barely fast enough to jump away from the beam. As soon as he landed, he was surrounded with electricity. He fired a large arc, which hit the Leafeon on the left side. The larger creature gritted its teeth as it withstood the electrical current.

"Leafeon can withstand a lot more wattage then that. You are going to have to try hard if you want to beat her." Mordecai taunted.

"Marik use Thunder Wave. Then use Bite!" Marik jumped forward and sent a smaller arc of electricity at the Leafeon.

"Leafeon dodge then use sweet scent!" the Leafeon gracefully jumped to the side and began to produce a pink gas. The gas wafted towards Marik, who was soon engulfed in it.

 **Marik's POV**

The pink gas smelled so good. It almost smelled heavenly. I could hear Sam yelling for me to get away from the gas cloud. Why would I want to leave? Unfortunately, Sam was in the middle of a gym battle and I didn't want him to lose because of me.

"Marik, use Bite!" Sam yelled. I ran towards the Leafeon, and pounced at it. I crashed into it, digging my fangs into it in the process. As the Leafeon crashed to the ground, I rolled off and landed on my feet. The Leafeon stood, and then looked at me.

"That all you've got kid? _"_ a feminine voice sneered.

"No, we are only scratching the surface." I growled.

"A feisty one. Beating you will be fun. _"_ The Leafeon smirked.

"You better be ready. We are playing for keeps. _"_ I replied coldly. The Leafeon laughed again.

 **Sam's POV**

The Leafeon stood up and seemed to talk to Marik for a few seconds.

"Leafeon, use Energy Ball!" the Leafeon nodded, and opened her mouth exactly as she had done with the Hyper Beam. She formed a large green ball and fired it at Marik.

"Marik, Dodge!" I yelled. Marik was caught sleeping. When he realized what was going on, it was too late. The ball of green energy ball slammed Marik against the tree that stood to the left side of the battlefield. Marik struggled to get up but collapsed. He was still trying to get up when the Leafeon strolled over to him. She stood over him tauntingly. Marik growled slightly.

"Leafeon, finish it off." Mordecai said softly. The Leafeon seemed to smirk just before opening its mouth. A familiar purple energy flowed into her mouth.

"Marik, Ice Fang!" I shouted. Marik jumped up with ice infused teeth. The startled Leafeon lost her focus and the purple energy disappeared. Marik set his jaws around the Leafeon's shoulder and let the mixture of ice and teeth inflict its damage. Without being ordered, the Leafeon's head leaf glowed green, in an attempt to use a Leaf Blade attack. However, the Hyper Beam left the Leafeon with little energy, causing the glow to dissipate rapidly. The Leafeon began to weaken, as it began to fall to the ground. When it lay still, Marik released her shoulder. The Leafeon trembled slightly, from the coldness of the bite.

"Leafeon, if you can, use Synthesis." Mordecai said calmly. Nothing happened.

"The winner of the battle is…" the ref began, although he was interrupted by a sudden flash of light. The Leafeon was glowing, a deep yellow color. The two bite wounds on her body completely healed. She then, steadily got to her feet. There was an evil glare in her eyes.

 **Marik's POV**

"You are going to pay dearly for what you did to me," the Leafeon hissed. She had a murderous look in her eyes.

"Leafeon, use Leaf Blade!" Mordecai yelled. The Leafeon leapt at me, her head leaf glowing a deep green. I tried to jump away but for whatever reason, I just felt slower. The green blade slashed me in the side. Unimaginable pain filled my entire body. I let out a loud shriek as I flew through the air. More pain spiked through me as I landed. Before I could even try to get up, the Leafeon was on top of me, striking me with another Leaf Blade. I screeched louder and louder as the Leafeon slashed at me with her Leaf Blade again and again. The pain was so intense that I finally began to pass out. Just as everything was going black, everything turned white.

'Am I dead?' I thought as the white began to take over everything. Suddenly I felt as if I had drank fifteen lattes. I began to feel my strength return to me, and then some. I began to feel even better then I did, after eating a warm dinner. I felt bigger than life, and definitely stronger. Then my vision came back. The Leafeon stared down at me in disbelief.

"Honey, I'm home." I smirked. The terror-stricken Leafeon began to back away slowly.

 **Sam's POV**

I stared in amazement at what had just happened. Marik was no longer the little blue cat. He had nearly doubled in size, and had a lot more black fur around his head and neck. He had evolved into a Luxio.

"Marwick, you…you evolved!" I shouted happily.

"Hurry and use Fire Fang before the Leafeon recovers!" Marik jumped at the Leafeon, which was too terrified to move. He chomped down on her again, this time with fire infused fangs. The Leafeon screeched as the flames licked her tan fur. Marik let go of his grasp and let the Leafeon crumple to the ground.

"Use Thunder Bolt for good measure!" I ordered. Marik glowed with power. He then launched the biggest Thunder Bolt I had ever seen him produce. The Leafeon was struck with the bolt, and screeched wildly. When the attack ended. The Leafeon was burned badly on the ground, unconscious.

"Leafeon is unable to battle! The winner of this match is Sam Mattlov!" the Ref announced, with a bit of surprise in his voice.

"I must say, I did not expect this outcome. You will be a great trainer when you're older. Congratulations Kid." Mordecai praised as he returned his Leafeon. "Good job, Sunkern, Leafeon. You both battled your hardest. For that, I am eternally grateful." Mordecai whispered as he placed his Pokéball back inside his gi.

"Sam, come and receive your badge." I walked up to the leader with a large grin on my face. I had finally won my first badge, after more then a month on my journey. "Sam, this is the Rainbow badge. Take it in commemoration of what you have accomplished here today. I have no doubt that you will have a bright future in front of you." Mordecai handed Sam the badge along with a disk. "Mom, er, Erika always gave out the TM Giga Drain when someone beat her. Since you are the youngest to ever beat me, I want you to take this one instead. It's the TM for Energy Ball. As you witnessed, it is a powerful attack. I hope that you will have a use for it. Well, I better get going. I have to close up shop for the maintenance tomorrow and once again congratulations." With that, Mordecai turned around and walked through the set of double doors.

 **Charles' POV**

"Lieutenant Charles, report." The familiar woman's voice demanded through Charlie's earpiece.

"I just watched the most spectacular battle I have ever seen."

"That is very nice Charlie, but watching a battle is not your job." The woman said impatiently.

"I know, I know. Aside from the gym battle, there isn't much to report. The targets stopped at the Make Your Own Original Burgers, a burger place in downtown. I have to say that it was one of the best burgers I have ever had. Maybe you and me can go there sometime, Casandra." I said with a hopeful smile.

"Once I am diagnosed with terminal cancer, I will go with you." The woman replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Anyway, I will need you to check the insider's microchip, I think it may have gotten damaged during the fight. He was using enough electricity to short out the city." I said seriously.

"Hold on a sec." there was a sound of keys clattering as Casandra typed up the request. "Your right, it was knocked offline. Are the targets heading to the Pokémon Center?"

"Yep, they just pulled into the Central Plaza Pokémon Center."

"Good, we will have Marik re-chipped. We already have agents in that particular facility. Keep your distance from the targets and be sure to report once you learn anything new. R-base, out."

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I hope ya'll enjoyed this chapter. I sure did. If you were wondering, Applebaum is the last name of the English voice actor of Erika. I simply used that for the last name. If you have anything to say, you know what to do. If you like, the story hit that favorite/follow button. Shieldliger001 is signing off.


	22. Chapter 22

Hey everyone, shield here. This chapter isn't quite as long as the last, but it's nearly four thousand words. I won't up much of your time here. So on with the reviews.

Phillip Harbindinger: First off thanks for the continued support. I really like the idea behind the move bide. The only problem I have with it is that you need the perfect balance between health and defense. Too much defense and the move is worthless and vice versa. I'm glad that my version of what should happen with bide made sense. Honestly, I wasn't thinking about that part with Basil. Now that I look back on it, I can see many things I could have done to improve that section. I will have to fix that soon.

Monpoke: Thank You for all of the support you have given for this story. As for the history idea, no I didn't get it from Rusty Raccoon. I thought that it would just be a good idea to give a little more history to add a little bit of background.

Silverwolf561: thanks for your support, and I really hope that you continue to read and support the story.

* * *

 **Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.**

 **Thomas A. Edison**

* * *

 **Chapter 22**

 **Caleb's POV**

I sat by Katlyn as we waited for Marik and Jack to come out. Sam beamed at the small badge he had received from Mordecai. I couldn't blame him. I did the exact same thing whenever I won a badge. The Pokémon Center wasn't very busy today. So I was sure that we would get out fairly soon. After maybe twenty minutes of waiting, a nurse came out with a single Pokéball.

"Here is your Pichu. You will have to wait a little longer for your Luxio. He sustained a minor fracture in one of his left ribs, so we are just bandaging it up. He'll be out here in jiffy." The nurse said cheerfully.

"Thank you." Sam replied politely. As he accepted the sphere. The nurse smiled with a nod and walked into the back. "Here Katlyn. Thanks for letting me borrow Jack."

"Don't thank me. You should thank my mom she is the one who… persuaded me to let you borrow him." Katlyn replied.

"More like, twisted your arm." Mom muttered.

"Hey mom, do you think I could look at that book we found for a second? _"_ I asked.

"Sorry Hun, I left it back at the hotel room." Mom looked back at Katlyn and Sam, who were now arguing over something. "If I had known that these two argued so much, I would have brought it." She sighed.

"They have been doing this ever since they met. Mom, when Maggie changes Katlyn back, do you think she will be her old age again? _"_ I asked. Even though I asked, I was pretty sure I already knew the answer.

"I don't think so. If she did, Katlyn would have to be twenty for a thousand years. Since she is cursed already, she will have break it somehow." Mom sighed.

'Katlyn, why didn't you tell Mom the whole truth about the curse?' I asked myself

"So what are you and Dad going to do? _"_ I asked. Mom sighed then looked me dead in the eyes. She didn't show it but I knew she was having a hard time coping with all that's been going on.

"I don't know. I guess I will have to talk it over with your dad when we get back home in a few days."

"We are staying? _"_

"Only for a couple of days. Celadon does have one of the biggest colleges in Kanto. I figured that we would go to the college your sister went to and talk to the professors there about that book we found. I may not be able to understand what is in that book, but I am sure that someone there will be able to read it."

"We should probably just bring scans of it. They may try to take it or something, if it turns out to be real. _"_ I replied. Mom shook her head.

"No, they won't be able to verify it by scans. The only way to know if it's real is by taking it to them."

"I just hope that this thing is something that has some sort of clue for finding Mew. _"_ I said.

"I know son. I know. We will get through this." Mom promised. I looked at her and smiled.

'Unfortunately mom, I'm not sure anymore that I can go back.' I thought sullenly.

 **Katlyn's POV**

"No you're the idiot! It wasn't skill; you just got lucky that Marik evolved. If he didn't, you would be here moping!"

"I taught him both Fire Fang and Ice Fang back in Viridian! He won because he had those moves, not because he evolved!" Sam threw back.

"Believe what you want; you still got lucky and that is all there is to it!" I yelled back. Sam began to open his mouth, but mom stopped him before he could say anything else.

"You both will stop or it will be early bedtimes for the both of you!" she threatened. Caleb was behind her snickering, which was really burning me.

"I am twenty years old. I don't even have a bedtime." I replied smugly.

"Katlyn, you do not look twenty. You don't even act twenty half the time. So don't give me that. I am done listening to you two bickering. So sit tight and behave. If I hear another peep out of you young lady, I will find myself a Mister Pow Pow and tan your hide." Mom said with a threatening glare.

"You haven't done that to me since I was eleven!" I yelled back.

"If haven't noticed, you aren't even four years old at the moment. You have two choices. You can either sit there quietly or you can run your mouth and pay the consequences." Mom said firmly. Looking down at my feet, I realized that it would be best if I just sat down and stayed quiet.

Another fifteen minutes went by, and a nurse finally brought Marik's Pokéball out.

"We wrapped your Pokémon's ribs so they would heal properly. It would be best if he didn't battle for a couple of days so he can heal. Also, we saw that his vaccination records were outdated so we went ahead and made sure he was up to date on his vaccines." The nurse said happily, as she handed it to mom. "Oh and one last thing. We are testing a new medical chip. It tracks the Pokémon's location, in case he is stolen, or gets lost. We were hoping that you would be willing to let us inject the chip."

"It's not my decision. The Pokémon belongs to him, so he is the one that you must ask." Mom replied as she pointed toward Sam. The nurse then explained everything she said early to Sam, in the smallest of words. Sam was becoming increasingly irritated, but he managed to keep calm.

"That is ok. You can go ahead and do it." He said, barely remaining calm. The woman smiled then left.

"I will be glad when tomorrow morning comes. If I have to deal with this much longer, I'm going to explode." He said through gritted teeth.

"You and me both." I muttered.

 **Marik's POV**

I was once again met with bright lights, but instead of seeing Sam, Caleb, and Katlyn, I saw another doctor.

"So you're the one that has the boss all worked up. Let's get this new bug implanted before the kid out there gets restless." The doctor, who obviously was a Rocket spy, opened a drawer in a small examination table. He pulled out a syringe and popped off the cap. "You probably already know what I am about to do, so I will skip the explanation just don't squirm too much or we will have to sedate you." He said as he brandished the needle. He quickly and efficiently slid the needle under my skin. The familiar pinch caused me to cringe. The doctor pushed the little chip just under my skin, and then retracted the needle. "These chips are highly resistant to electricity. Resistant being the key word. Don't short this one out." The man held my Pokéball up and pressed the center button. My vision blurred red.

 **Sam's POV**

"Here you go, young man. Be sure to be safe with your Pokémon," the young nurse said as she handed me Marik's Pokéball.

"Thank you." I replied through gritted teeth. The Nurse smiled and left.

"Come on. I'm sure Maggie is getting ready to do something besides lounge around the room all day." Mrs. Ward said as she stood up. I nodded and we all left the center.

We were about halfway to the hotel when I looked over at Katlyn. She had fallen asleep in the seat of the car. Caleb was sitting next to her also sleeping.

"I thought I heard some movement back there. What's on your mind?" Mrs. Ward asked as she peeked through the rear view mirror. The sun was setting by now so the sun gave her a strange glowing appearance.

"I am just ready to be my normal age again. All of the people we talked to today treated me like a little kid." I sighed.

"Well, don't feel bad. Katlyn is going through the same thing, and then some. Tomorrow it should all be better. Unfortunately for Katlyn, she will most likely only be the age she was before she got you two in this mess."

"So she really was twenty years old before I met her?"

"Yes she was. In fact, I have a picture of her in my purse. If this light turns red, I'll get it for you." Sure enough, the light turned red. Mrs. Ward quickly pulled out her wallet and flipped through it. Her hand finally stopped on a small paper rectangle. She quickly handed it to me then returned her gaze to the stoplight. The picture had four people and three Pokémon. There was a man and a woman holding hands. There was a young woman stand next to the man, and a teenage boy standing beside the woman. Two Ninetales sat in front of the man and woman and the teen was holding a Vulpix. The older woman was obviously Mrs. Ward. The man I was guessing was Mr. Ward. The teenager and Vulpix were obviously Caleb and Lawrence, and the younger woman had to be Katlyn. At the bottom of the picture was a date, which read 'summer of 2014'.

"This was last year?" I asked.

"Yep, it was also the last time I saw Caleb as a human. He came home a few weeks before this picture was taken. By that time, he only had four badges. After that picture was taken, he went off to finish his journey. After nearly a year, he had gotten his seventh badge. He was heading to Pewter city. We were going to watch his final gym battle, but he never got the chance."

"Because he got caught in the storm." I muttered.

"Yes, he got caught in that blasted storm." Mrs. Ward said coldly. "After Katlyn left to help her brother. I didn't hear from her until a week ago. I knew something was wrong. This is the first time I've seen her or Caleb since she left."

"But I saw on the news that he was one of the first time trainers that had officially qualified for the League." I said skeptically.

"That wasn't Caleb. It was Lawrence. Lawrence's aunt helped with that. They beat the leader as a gift to Caleb. Well, we're here. You better wake up Katlyn and Caleb." Mrs. Ward said as she turned off the engine and opened her door.

 **Caleb's POV**

I looked at my family happily. We were at our house celebrating my birthday. Everything was going perfectly. We had just finished eating cake and ice cream, and had just begun opening presents.

"Here Caleb, open this one first. It's something Maggie, Ember, and Lawrence found for you." Katlyn said as she handed me a small brightly wrapped package. I quickly tore the paper off and opened the box. Inside was a fire stone. The reddish stone shimmered in the light. The orange flame in the center emitted a warm energy.

"Thanks guys, but shouldn't you give this to Lawrence?" I asked as I let the light roll off the stone.

"I gave Lawrence his stone when he turned a year old. Now that you are now technically a year old, we thought that this would be a good gift for you. _"_ Maggie said cheerfully.

"Um Maggie, I'm turning sixteen." I said seriously.

"Mentally you are, but physically you are a year old. _"_

"Maggie, I appreciate the gift but, as you can plainly see, I am physically sixteen."

"Caleb, when will accept the fact that you won't be human again. You gave up after Celadon City. _"_

"No I didn't. We found Mew and he changed me back. Don't any of you remember?"

"Caleb, after Celadon, you gave up. You said that it wasn't worth it. You quit. _"_ Lawrence spoke up sadly. _"_ Just look at yourself and me what you see. _"_ The world instantly became larger. The chair I was sitting in seemed to grow. I sat there as a single tailed Vulpix.

"I'm sorry Caleb. _"_ Ember said softly.

"No, you're not. I realize that this is a dream; I will prove every one of you wrong. I will not stop unless Mew comes down and tells me that it's impossible to change me back. And if that happens, well, then I will not stop until I find some way to turn back. _"_

" _Mom said you humans were stubborn_. _"_ A familiar telepathic voice sighed.

"Mew, is that you? _"_ I asked halfway out of anger and halfway out of surprise.

" _Not quite but you're close. I'm her son. Mom told me about you. She said that you tried to catch me when I was crying for her. Is that true?"_ the voice asked.

"Yes and no. I thought you were abandon; I tried to catch you so I could get you some help. I had no intention of keeping you. _"_

" _That's not want mom said at all. She said that you tried to take me from her. She said she punished you so you wouldn't hurt me."_

"She can believe what she wants. Now that I answered your question, you can answer one of mine. Can I change back? _"_ I asked seriously. The telepathic voice was silent for several minutes.

" _I don't know. You'd have to ask mom."_ the young Mew replied.

"Where is she? _"_

" _Can't tell you that,"_ the telepathic cat's voice said mysteriously. _"I'll tell you what, if you find us within two years. Then we will talk to you. By that time, you should be a good fighter and I should be able to master my abilities. If you can't find us by then, we will not talk to you even if you do find us in the end."_

"Just one more question, how old are you? _"_ I asked.

" _Six months old."_

"Six months old! How do you even know how to talk properly? _"_ I yelled.

" _Silly human, I'm a psychic type; we grow faster, well mentally anyway. Well I have to go. Someone is going to wake you in three…two…one… Bye!"_ Suddenly the entire dream world began to shake. Within half a second, I was awake.

 **Katlyn's POV**

"Come on sleepy head you have to get up. We are at the hotel." I said as I shook my foxlike brother. Sam stood next to me with a frustrated look in his eyes.

"Katlyn, just pick him up. I want to go in and relax." Sam whined.

"He knows how to walk. I'm not going to do everything for him." I replied steadfastly.

"Katlyn, its getting dark out. I am getting tired. Your mom can't open the door with us standing out here by ourselves. Read, my, lips. Pick him up!" he yelled.

"Fine, if it means you will stop shouting in my ear!" I yelled back. I quickly scooped Caleb up, which was quite a bit harder considering how small I am, and closed the car door. I then dropped Caleb on the ground without a second thought. Needless to say, he woke up pretty fast.

"Katlyn! What was that for? _"_ he yelled.

"I'm sorry, but I can't keep carrying you when ever you are asleep. You have to get up and do it yourself." I retorted. Caleb looked at me angrily, then got up and walked inside.

"You know, that you could have hurt him." Sam said disapprovingly.

"I didn't ask you."

"Stop being an idiot. I don't know what's wrong with you, but this is ridiculous. I'm going inside, if you want to talk to me in a better mood, you know where I'll be." Sam said as he to, walked inside the hotel.

"Katlyn, come on. I getting tired of holding the door." Mom yelled to me. I took my sweet time to get to the door. "What is your problem? On second thought, I don't want to know."

"Mom, I want this to end!" I cried as I buried my face into my hands

"Oh honey, I know. I know. You and Caleb will get through this." Mom shushed as she began to hug me.

"Why did this happen to me? What did I do to deserve this?" I couldn't control myself. The tears flooded my face like a bursting dam.

"You didn't do anything. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. It's the same with Caleb. You should follow his example."

"What example? He is stuck as a Vulpix. He may never be able to change back."

"You're right. He may never be able to go back, but he is giving you the best example. Even though he may not be able to go back, he is still happy. He hasn't complained once about his form or size. He looks at this as a minor set back. He hasn't given up hope, and you shouldn't either."

"But I just got out of college. I had a job waiting for me. I had a boyfriend. My life is ruined. Even if we fix Caleb, I will still be a kid. I can't go back." By now, I was sobbing. Mom pulled me into a hug.

"Katlyn, you don't know that. You said it was a curse. Curses are meant to be broken." She comforted.

"I can't. I don't have a curse anymore. It was broken as soon as the Banette had broken contact with me. It reset my age. The only way for me to get back to my original age is by growing up again."

"Why didn't you tell me this when we were at Fort Trell?"

"I was afraid." I replied between soft sobs.

"Of what?"

"Of what would happen if you and Dad found out."

"Katlyn, what do you mean? Your, Dad and I would do anything to protect you."

"Exactly. I don't want to be treated like a little kid. I knew that if I told you the whole truth about what happened; then you and Dad would treat me differently."

"Katlyn, if you felt like this the entire time, why are you telling me all of this now?"

"Because, I feel like I may be giving up. I'm done with this whole trip. I want to just go home and sleep until the world is made right." I cried softly. Mom hugged me some more and gently rubbed the back of my head.

"Katlyn, you should never lose hope. Your brother certainly hasn't. Just because things get tough, doesn't mean for you to just give up. Don't think that being young again is a curse. Think of it as a blessing in disguise. We had better head to our room. I'm sure that Caleb and Sam want to get to bed soon. Especially Sam." Mom, despite my protest, picked me up.

 **Lawrence's POV**

"So Marik evolved. Good for him. _"_ I said as Zan finished telling the events of the battle.

"I must admit that I was impressed. Although, I think that Sam would have finished a lot faster if Marik stayed in close and then used Ice Fang and Fire Fang. _"_

"I think that this is the first time that I have ever heard you compliment a human. _"_ I smirked.

"All I am saying is that he did a good job, for a human. You should have seen the other human's face when he was beat by what he thought was a three year. I never knew someone's face could contain surprise, anger, and disbelief all at the same time. _"_ Zan laughed.

"What? _"_ I asked questioningly.

"That's right you don't know. Well, we met up with Katlyn's mom and, I'm assuming, your mom at Fort Trell. Basically, both Sam and Katlyn are stuck as little kids. Your mom so going to try to fix Sam tomorrow and Katlyn a few days later. _"_

"You are going to have to start from the beginning. What exactly happened? _"_ Zan began to smile as he told what happened.

 **Caleb's POV**

Katlyn and Mom finally opened the door. Katlyn had obviously been crying, but she had somehow fallen asleep in Mom's arms. Maggie was waiting at the door.

"It's about time you got here. I was about to burn the TV apart if I saw another soap, car, or beer ad. What's wrong with Katlyn? _"_ she asked as Mom silently placed Katlyn in one of the two beds.

"She is ready to give up. She feels that things will only get worst if she continues to travel."

"She can't give up! I can't stay like this forever. I need to find out if there is a way for me to become human again! _"_ I yelped.

"I know, but maybe, maybe you two should take a break. Look at everyone else. Sam is a new trainer. He shouldn't be forced to help you or Katlyn. Your father and I have been worried sick about you two. Maggie should spend some time with her son. Katlyn has to learn to accept the past. I'm not saying for you to give up."

"You aren't giving me a choice are you?" I asked coldly. Mom looked at me sadly.

"Caleb, I love you very much. I would do anything to help you, but I think your sister is about to collapse mentally. She needs time. You both do."

"I'm done talking about this. I'm going to bed. _"_ I growled. I then walked away without another word.

 **Charles' POV**

"What do you need Charles."

"I believe the time to strike is near. The target is in an extreme state of stress. The group has dropped its guard. We can take them." I said.

"Negative Charles. The Boss wants to wait a few more days for the information from the informant. If his analysis corresponds with yours, then a team will lead a sting operation. You are to remain hidden until that time. Do not make any contact with the targets. You are to continue observation. That is an order."

"Roger, that base. You had just better hurry up. I need to get home and feed my fish." I chuckled

"If everything goes according to plan, then you will have plenty of time to feed your fish, Charles. R-base out."

* * *

As usual, I hope ya'll enjoyed this chapter. I really don't have much to say aside from the norm, so if you have anything to say you know what to do. If you like, the story then be sure to hit that follow/favorite button. Shieldliger001, signing off.


	23. Chapter 23

What's up everyone? Shield here with another chapter. Before we start today, I want to reiterate that I don't own Pokémon, just the characters. Zan is owned by Rayrudan since he came up with him. on to the reviews.

Rayrudan: Long time no hear! I understand what you mean perfectly. I wanted to show the battle between the light of true friendship and the darkness of hollow hope. This little drama will be playing itself out for a while as they finally move forward in their journey.

Monpoke: Basically, he doesn't have any other Pokémon. It isn't unheard of for a trainer to have only one Pokémon. In the show, there was a trainer who had all eight badges, but he only used a Marowak. The journey would have been extremely difficult but it's possible to challenge the league with one Pokémon.

caitou zzzzzz: You actually read my mind when you asked about the curse. I was going to have Sam stay younger for a bit longer before you even asked, but as Maggie explains in this chapter, she can't go back to her original age. I picked two years because of three reasons. The first being that by then, Caleb would be extremely well trained by the time they fight. The second was because of the whole age thing. Since I think that Pokémon live, longer then regular animals, they would mature physically at a slower rate. The third reason is even though Caleb will be looking for Mew, I still have plans to throw in some more gym battles for Sam, and maybe some contests for Katlyn. If I were to name a fourth, it was the first number that popped into my head.

Enough of this, on with the chapter!

* * *

 **It's often difficult for those who are lucky enough to have never experienced what true depression is, to imagine a life of complete hopelessness, emptiness, and fear.**

 **Susan Polis Schutz**

* * *

 **Chapter 23**

 **Sam's POV**

'She can't be that bad off, can she?' I thought to myself as I lay quietly on the bed. 'She can't that close to a mental collapse. She is the most headstrong person I have every met.'

" _Go to sleep Sam. Your thoughts are keeping me up."_ Maggie telepathically demanded.

"Ninetales don't pick up on other people's thoughts, unless they want to." I retorted.

" _That is very good young one, but do keep it down. Use your thoughts not your voice. Even though you are awake doesn't mean everyone else wants to be."_

'Sorry, I wasn't thinking.'

" _It's fine. So, you were wondering if Katlyn is as bad off as her mother says she is. The answer is yes. She is feeling as if there is no more hope. Which, in a way, there isn't."_

'What do you mean by that? There is always hope; you just have to know where to look.'

" _Let me see if I can explain this. You see generally, there is hope for everything to turn out alright, but she is hoping for something hollow, and she has realized just how hollow her hope really is."_

'I'm not sure if I understand.' I admitted.

" _She is hoping for a way back to her old self. But she said so herself that she is not cursed. So technically there is nothing that she can do to go back."_

'Can't you do something about it? You could just change her back to being twenty again right?'

" _Yes and no. Yes, I can change her back to her regular age. The problem is that I have restrictions. I can make my curses last either life long, or for a thousand years. If I did curse her life long, how do you think she will feel when you, her parents, her brother, and all of her friends will be dying of old age and she is still as young as most college students. It may help temporarily, but it wouldn't do anything in the long run."_

'What really brought this entire thing out?' Although I couldn't see her, I could somehow tell that Maggie didn't know exactly how to answer. I heard a small sigh.

" _Fort Trell would be my first idea, but something tells me that it started before that. One thing I am sure about is that if we don't find something that can give her hope; she may not be able to cope with the world."_

'Maggie, if it will help, I want you to fix Katlyn first. I don't mind staying like this for a few more days if it means it will help.'

" _Thanks Sam. You really are a good friend to her."_

'I never said that I was her friend. She really just reminds me of my little sister back at home.'

" _You say that, but your actions say otherwise."_

 **Maggie's POV**

I waited an hour or so for Sam to fall asleep. Then got up and made my way to the door. Using psychic, I quietly pushed the door to the room open. The soft hallway lights lightly illuminated the interior of the room. Quietly slipping through the doorway, I softly shut it. I made my way through the hallways of the hotel until I found an exit. The cool night breeze ruffled my fur slightly as I stepped onto the paved sidewalk. The whole area was lit by the light of the full moon. Looking at the large ball of rock, I remembered the times when I had wished I could somehow touch that beautiful stone. Unfortunately, tonight was not a night I could enjoy. Instead, I had to do something I would dread doing. Seeing a nearby tree, I turned and walked under it. As I sat there, I began to calm myself down. I imagined that I was one with space, time, and nature. Using this move so many times before in the past, I could tell exactly when I began to glow pale blue. As if it were a warning, thunder began to rumble in the background, though there wasn't a cloud to cover the serene night sky. I could feel the glow intensify and I felt as if the world was becoming clearer. Finally, the world seemed to be revealed to me. I saw everything that was supposed to happen. After a few more seconds of watching, I finally saw what I was looking for. I quickly snapped out of my vision.

"Let's get this over with. _"_ I sighed as I rushed into the darkness.

The distant thunder grew more pronounced as I bounded down the abandon streets of Celadon. The cloudless sky was rapidly changing into a dark, foreboding one, a sure sign of a coming storm. The narrow streets of the inner city began to widen as I began to transition into the countryside. My speed and the increasing wind began to block my hearing with an increased roaring. A few more minutes and I stood in front of the very object I was looking for. It was a small country house, on about twenty acres of land. A large red barn and a windmill sat behind the house giving the place a true rural feel. The windmill was spinning like an airplane propeller. There was a single light shining through the gloomy night. A shadow crossed by the window and the light flicked off. I walked up to the door and used psychic to open the door. The door popped open and I took a step inside. Creating a blue energy, I created a large illusion around me. As I walked through a hallway that branched, off from the foyer area, I walked past a wall to ceiling mirror. The mirror showed me the illusion that I had created. The reflection showed me a large man bathed in a black cloak. The hood of the clock covered the top of the illusion's face. The bottom half of the face was covered with a shining silvery mask in the shape of large skull mouth. The eyes shined purple through the darkness that covered the top half of the illusions face. I looked down at my body and saw my tan fur. I looked straight ahead; and continued to what I assumed was a bedroom. The door was cracked slightly. I gently pushed it open. When I did, I heard the sound of a rifle being cocked.

"Don't move or you're a dead man. I jumped forward and spun around.

 **Third Person POV**

The two figures were standing as still as a statue. The man behind Maggie was a short bald man. He was extremely short compared to the seven-foot illusion Maggie had created. He had an old M91 Dragoon bolt-action rifle. He cocked it and aimed it at the back of the illusions head. The sound of the rifle made Maggie jump forward, and twist in mid air. The illusion threw open the cloak and revealed a .45 Desert Eagle. Before the illusion was given a chance to draw. The man fired, hitting the illusion square in the head. The illusion didn't even flinch as its hand shot for the handgun. The man with the rifle, shot again. The bullet hit directly where a man's heart should have been, but it passed through the body without even slowing down. Maggie's illusion slowly drew the .45 Desert Eagle, giving the terror-stricken man another chance to fire. He shot again; the shot this time went wide of the target due to the man's shaking hands. As the illusion aimed the gun down at the shorter man, the man shot once more. The bullet grazed Maggie's actual body in the left ear. The illusion reacted as if it had actual been grazed by the 7.62 round, but it quickly returned to its guns ready state.

 **Maggie's POV**

My illusion held its gun at the man's head, as if it were going to execute him. The man fell to his knees, and began to beg for mercy.

" _Are you Doctor Marcus Grant?"_ I asked telepathically, although to him it would sound like a robotic voice.

"Yes, I am. Please...don't kill me. I…didn't do anything wrong. Please…have mercy on me!" he begged.

" _If you want to live, you will do exactly what I say."_ I threatened. I then proceeded to give the cowering his instructions. As soon as I had finished, I ran for the front door.

I left the house as fast as I could. As soon as I knew it was safe, I dissolved my illusion. The air was filled with moisture. Thunder was constantly booming as the lightning flashed. The rain finally came. The rain came in sheets that instantly soaked me to the core. It really didn't hurt as much as it felt uncomfortable. Instead of running back to the hotel, I walked. I did it partially because, unlike most fire types, I enjoy the rain, and partially for punishment for what I had to do.

"Arceus, forgive me. Katlyn, I am sorry about this, but you will see that I had no other choice. _"_ I whispered to myself as I entered the hotel. Water fell off me as if I was a rain cloud myself. I tracked water all the way down to our room. I quietly opened our door via psychic, and stepped inside. I headed straight to the bathroom in order not to get the rest of the room wet.

 **Caleb's POV**

The morning hit us all like a ton of bricks. Aside from a few instructions from Mom, no one said a word. Maggie seemed strangely distant and Katlyn was extremely depressed. Sam seemed strangely glum, and Mom's eyes were wet, from crying in the middle of the night. Finally we were about to leave when Maggie seemed to remember something.

" _We need to fix Sam before we leave. Sam, please stand still."_

"No, I don't want to go right now. I want Katlyn to go first. You know ladies first and all of that." Katlyn looked over at Sam. She was clearly surprised by this turn of events.

" _Well Katlyn, you heard what he said. He wants you to go first."_ Maggie said.

"Sam, are you sure? I mean, it is my fault that you are like this to begin with." Katlyn asked uncertainly.

"Katlyn, honestly, after all the things we've been through for the past month, do you really think that I would let you suffer for a stupid mistake. You…you are more then just a friend. You are family. You are like a sister to me."

"Sam, I…I don't know what to say."

"Then don't say anything, and let Maggie fix you before I change my mind." Sam smiled weakly.

"Just stand still, and let me do my work. _"_ Maggie instructed Katlyn. Maggie closed her eyes and then they flashed open with a blue glow. Katlyn also began to glow. She then began to grow. Not much, but she definitely wasn't three anymore. Soon the lights died and Katlyn stood there as her seven-year-old self. Katlyn seemed disappointed at first but she soon was smiling. She bent down and gave Sam a large hug.

"Katlyn, you're…chocking…me." Sam gasped.

"Hehe, sorry. Sam; thanks. Not even Caleb has every said anything similar to what you said." She said happily. Sam began to blush slightly then nodded.

"Well, gang. We better get going. I was thinking we could stop and get something to eat. Maggie I want you to watch Caleb, if that's all right.

"What? Why can't I come? _"_ I yelped.

"Because, the college has a strict policy about Pokémon. They cannot be outside of a Pokéball on campus, unless they are in designated areas. The classrooms and offices are not the designated areas." Katlyn replied.

"But mom, I don't want to stay here! _"_ I griped.

"You are staying here Caleb and that's that." Mom said firmly.

"Since you are heading to the college, do you think you could find a way to get Lawrence out of the Pokéball? _"_ Maggie asked hopefully.

"We will see what we can do, Maggie. However, I can't promise that we will be able to get him out today." Mom replied.

"As long as you try. _"_ Maggie replied sadly. Mom nodded then herded Sam and Katlyn out the door.

"One more thing before we leave. I made some breakfast for Caleb. Please make sure he eats it." Mom said. Maggie nodded her reply then Mom shut the door.

"Well now, what should we do with you? Phew, when is the last time you've had a bath? _"_

"Oh no, I'm not taking a bath. The last time that happened, Katlyn had Basil squeeze me nearly to death! _"_

"I'm not Katlyn now am I?"

"Um…no?" I said, slightly scared.

"Then you have nothing to worry about. If you behave. _"_ Maggie began to walk towards me with a faint smile. I turned tail and ran.

 **Katlyn's POV**

The drive to the university was uneventful. We stopped at a Waffle House, which Mom hates, and ate a quick breakfast. The only reason we went there was because Sam had never been to one before. Mom thought that it would the perfect way to prove her point. Unfortunately, for her, Sam enjoyed the food. We left the restaurant and began our trip to the university.

It didn't take much longer to reach the university. It was a large campus with several annexes. When we stepped on campus, I felt like I had come home. I could even see my dorm building.

"Does it bring back memories?" Mom asked as we headed into the main building. I nodded as I looked at the manicured bushes and trees. "Be sure to stick with us Sam. This place is pretty big and you can get lost easily."

"Oh and some of the professors here don't like kids so stay close if you don't want to get griped at." I added.

"Oh joy, I can tell that this will be a lot of fun." Sam said as he rolled his eyes. Mom held open the door as Sam and I walked through.

We made our way through the halls until we had reached the main office. There was a single man standing behind the large desk.

"Hello, I am looking for Dr. Marcus Grant's office." Mom said. The man suddenly went pale.

"Th-That's me. Wh-what can I help you with?" the man asked nervously.

"Is there someplace where we can talk privately? We have something we are sure is genuine, but we want someone to look at it just to be safe." Mom asked.

"Of course, please come this way." Dr. Marcus said a bit more relaxed. He led us down another series of corridors until we reached a door with the professor's name written in bold gold letters on the glass.

"Now, let me see that book." He said as he sat down at the single oak desk. Mom sat down in a one of the two chairs that faced the desk.

"How did you know that it was a book that we were going to show you?" I asked. Dr. Marcus looked at me in bewilderment.

"Young lady, You are far too young to understand what I teach and study. To put it in a way you will understand, I look at books, in order to see if they are real, or if they are a reprint. Now if you will be quiet for a few minutes, I will be able to concentrate." Dr. Marcus said harshly. His sudden verbal harshness made me tear up. I tried to hold it in, but it added to the rest of my emotional baggage. I couldn't help but to start crying. Mom quickly drew me into a hug and began to comfort me. She then proceeded to glare at the Professor. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make the child cry. I had a rough night last night, and I did not get much sleep." Dr. Marcus apologized, but Mom continued to shoot glares at the nervous doctor. She then reached into her bag and pulled out the book. The doctor took it, and unfolded the cloth surrounding it. The smell of mold and leather flooded my nose with overwhelming force. The professor softly opened the book, and began to read. He read it for about five minutes, before opening a drawer in his desk and pulling out a magnifying glass and a small bottle of clear liquid. He flipped the pages until he found a blank yellowed page. He then applied the liquid and watched with the magnifying glass.

"The paper is genuine thirteenth century paper. The leather is raw Tauros hide. I would say that this book is definitely from the thirteenth century A.D. All that's left to do is to see who the writer is."

 **Maggie's POV**

"Now that we got you cleaned up, we need to straighten out your fur. Afterwards, you can watch some TV if you keep it down. I am going to take a nap. _"_ I said as I picked Caleb up out of the bathtub. The young kit wasn't very thrilled about the bath and even tried to escape several times during the washing. He began to head to the door. I quickly shut it before he left.

"Before go off and do what you want, don't you think you should dry off first? _"_ I asked him. The little kit looked down at his sopping wet fur then he smirked. He charged at me at full speed and tried to jump on me. When he launched himself, he froze in midair.

"Hey put me down! This isn't funny! _"_

"Caleb, Lawrence would try the exact same trick. He always tried to get me wet also. Trust me; I knew what you were going to do. _"_ The little kit pouted and I helped dry him off with my flames.

"It wasn't fair that you used Psychic." He muttered as he tried to rub his fur back down.

"Like I said before, I knew what you were going to do. _"_

"I'm going to watch some TV. _"_

"Not so fast. I changed my mind. We are going to train you a little bit. You are old enough to get the basics down. _"_

"I guess that would be a good idea. I was going to ask Zan if he could teach me some more later, but I guess it would be best if I learned from another fire type. Besides, if I'm going to beat Mew, I had better get stronger fast. _"_

"Beat Mew? Caleb, what haven't you told me? _"_ I asked. Caleb looked at me long and hard, and sighed.

"Last night, when we were in the car, I had a dream. In it, Mew's kid, the one I intended to help, began to talk to me. He told me that if I found them in two years, that they would give me answers. But he said that I would have to fight him first, even if I do find them. _"_ He said.

"Caleb, Mew is practically a god. It would be suicide to fight them. Even if you became the most powerful Pokémon in the world, they could still swat you down like a fly. No question is worth dying for. _"_ I tried to discourage him, but Caleb remained steadfast. I sighed then beckoned him to follow me. Using Psychic, I pushed open the door and we left the hotel room. We made our way outside.

 **Caleb's POV**

Maggie took me to a small field in a park not far from the hotel. It was still raining, and when I tried to back out of going outside, Maggie said it would just go to build my resistance to water.

"The first thing we are going to work on is dodging. We won't go onto anything else until you can dodge anything I throw at you. Since I am a former champion, I don't expect that this will be easy for you. _"_ As she finished her little speech, she breathed out a massive column of fire. I jumped as far to the left as my little legs would carry me. I managed to escape the fiery column but when I landed, the mud from all the rain caused me to slip and fall. Maggie quickly took advantage of this and leapt at me. I flinched as I waited for her fangs to chomp into my flesh. Instead, I was simply picked up by the scruff of the neck. _"_ You are dead. If this was a life and death situation. You would most likely be filling up another creature's belly. Try again. _"_ Maggie placed me back on the ground then walked about ten feet away. She inhaled a large breath, and then launched another Flamethrower. I jumped once again to the left and this time landed on my feet. I took a few seconds to celebrate my success. That celebration was short lived. Maggie tackled me. The force that hit me, told me that she wasn't hardly trying, yet it still felt as though I was hit with a sledgehammer.

"You can't celebrate until the battle is over and you are the winner. An opponent will always attack when you least expect it. Try again. _"_

"Could you go a little easier? I'm cold, wet, and muddy. _"_ I complained as I looked at my muddy pelt.

"Caleb, why don't you just quit now? You obviously aren't taking this seriously. If you were to battle Mew at any point at all, he would be mopping the floor with you. If you can't even withstand a little rain and mud, then you should just forget all of this. _"_ Maggie said harshly. I looked down at the ground as my ears pushed down on my skull.

"I'm sorry. I will try harder. _"_ I whimpered. The larger Ninetales' eyes softened a little, but quickly went cold again.

"You must do everything I say. If you complain, even once, I will punish you. I will tell you that it took Lawrence months to complete this section of my training. Now get ready. _"_

 **Sam's POV**

The professor studied the book like a hawk. He flipped through the book so many times, that I lost count. Finally, after about three hours of looking through the book and making notes on a notepad, he softly shut the book and gently wrapped it back up.

"I found some very interesting things," he said as he pulled off a pair of latex gloves. "The book was a journal written by King Jeffric, the finally king of Green Landing. This book differs significantly from the mainstream history books. It says that the King despised hunting Pokémon and only wished to coexist with the creatures. Because of his beliefs, many of the nobles began to question the King's abilities to lead. They eventually tried to over throw him. According to the journal, Mew had compassion on the King, and protected him from several assassination attempts. In the end, the nobles almost killed Mew. They managed to shoot a single arrow through the creature. Though Mew was mortally wounded, it used the remainder of its power to destroy the nobles. Unfortunately, King Jeffric had been captured, and was caught in the explosion. It killed him with his nobles. Mew was saddened so greatly that she used her very soul as energy to bring him back. She created him a new body and attached his soul to it. The new body was that of a male Mew. Once she was done, she died. Arceus came down and brought back the dead Mew, and told her that she was no longer immortal, because she had used half of her soul to bring back a dead human."

"If this is the King's journal, then why does it talk about events after the King died?" I asked. The Professor looked at me in shock. I guess he wasn't expecting a three year old to ask a question that complex.

"That is actually a good question. I am impressed that a boy his age would even be able to comprehend what we are talking about. To answer your question. Most kings didn't write journals themselves. They had scribes write down everything they had done." The professor replied.

"Whether or not any of this is really happened, we will have to leave that to someone else to decide. Now let's look at this map." The professor took out the map that was stuffed between the pages, and softly unfolded it.

"This is obviously a map of Kanto. But this map is a regional map of all of the kingdoms within Green Landing's trade routes. There are a few differences. Here in Lavender Town, it shows a massive walled city, but archeologists have found no evidence of a city in that area. Here is the place where the Pokémon tower now stands, but it says that this is a temple to Mew. Again, there is no archeological evidence to support this. Also, this area northeast of Lavender Town is what appears to be a shrine. Under the shrine, it says that this shrine was built for restorative qualities. If I am reading it correctly, the shrine was used to heal people of inflictions, ailments, curses, and side effects of curses." The Professor explained.

"You mean, hypothetically, that if you were to go there, it could restore something that was a result of a curse?" Mom asked. She let a little excitement seep into her voice.

"Hypothetically, yes. Logically, no."

"Thank you Dr. Marcus. We really should be going, I have to pick up some groceries and then feed these kids." Mom said as she set me back down on my feet.

"Not a problem, I'm glad I could help. By the way, if you ever decide to sell that book, here is my number. I would be honored to take it off your hands."

"I think I will hold on to it for a while longer. Thanks for the offer. Have a good day Dr. Marcus."

 **Caleb's POV**

"Maggie, I…I don't think…I can keep going. I don't have any energy left. _"_ I panted as she began another string of attacks.

"You will never get stronger if you don't push yourself to the limits! _"_ She yelled. She released her column of fire. I didn't even try to dodge the flames. I let them cover me like a large blanket. The heat comforted me and I felt a little bit better, until the fire disappeared. The rain instantly doused me with its coldness.

"Congratulations, you figured out what the first lesson is. You may now take a break. _"_

"I did? What was the first lesson? I thought you said that the lesson was about dodging.

"It was, but it was also about knowing your strengths. Tell me, did you feel any pain when the fire hit you? _"_ Maggie asked.

"No I didn't." I admitted.

"Most Vulpix have the ability Flash Fire, which makes them immune to almost all fire type moves. _"_

"Did it seriously take Lawrence a month to figure that out? _"_ I asked.

"Yes, but that wasn't the first thing we worked on. We first started with his speed when I began training him. He was able to dodge pretty much everything by the time we got to dodging. _"_ Maggie answered.

"We had better get you cleaned up. Your mother would freak out if she saw you like this. _"_

"Aw come on! I don't want another bath!" I yelped.

"Spoken like a true Vulpix. _"_ Maggie chuckled. Her humor was short lived. _"_ Caleb, I am going to tell you something that I think you should know. Let's get you cleaned up and then I will tell you what it is. You must promise me that you will keep it secret. _"_

"Ok I'll keep it a secret, as long as it's not anything illegal. _"_ I replied. Maggie nodded then picked me up. I tried to protest but found that it was useless.

 **Katlyn's POV**

"I can't believe it! There is still a chance I can go back to normal!" I exclaimed as we walked from Dr. Marcus' office to the main office. I turned around and began to walk backwards as I talked. "I thought that my life was over. I can't wait until I'm normal again. The first thing I'm going to do is going shopping for new clothes. Then I'm going to find a nice restaurant to eat at." I babbled excitedly.

"Katlyn, watch out!" Sam shouted as I collided with someone. I heard papers fluttering about as I fell. I found myself lying on the ground staring up at the ceiling. I quickly sat up and began to rub my head. Next to me was a young man, also sitting on the floor. He quickly got to one knee and began to pick up the papers he had dropped.

"I am so sorry. She should have been watching where she was going." Mom apologized. After a couple more seconds, recognition had peeked into my mom's eyes. "Jordan Snyder, I haven't heard anything out of you since you and Katlyn left for college. Your mother tells me that you are trying to get a degree in computer engineering."

"Oh don't worry about it. It was my fault also. I shouldn't have been in so much of a… Mrs. Ward!" The young man said as he stood up.

"Who is that?" Sam asked me quietly.

"That's Jordan, my boyfriend." I whispered as tears began to come to my eyes. "We both lived on the same street for as long as I can remember. We did everything together. It was almost as if we were brother and sister."

"Oh." Sam sighed. The three-year-old trainer put his small hand on my shoulder. "Hey, at least you will be able to spend time with him once we are done with this journey. You will be back to normal and he won't have to know about any of this."

"Yeah, you're right. I just have to be patient."

"So Jordan, you still mess around with computers right? I was wondering if you could do something for me. My husband works for Silph Co. he just finished a prototype Pokéball, and needs someone to try and see how easy it's to hack." Mom asked. Jordan was caught off guard by the sudden question.

"I guess I could give it a shot. Can I see the Pokéball?" Mom nodded and knelt down in front of me. I already knew what she was going to ask, so I unclipped the ball and handed it to her. Mom gave Jordan the ball and he inspected it.

"Come by my dorm tomorrow. It's dorm 35 T. I should be done with it by then. It was nice seeing you again, and be sure to tell Katlyn that I miss her."

"Don't worry I'll tell her." Mom replied. Jordan waved then walked off. I could hold it in anymore.

"Mom, please. If he somehow figures out what's going on. Tell him what's going on." I cried softly.

"Ok, honey. I will." She said with a hug.

 **Caleb's POV**

"You did what? Maggie not only is what you did illegal, but also how do you think Katlyn will feel when she finds out that it was all a lie? She could go catatonic when she finds out! _"_ I yelled. Maggie seemed surprised at how I reacted.

"When she finds out, she will not care as much, if, you follow my plan _"_

"What plan? It sounds to me that you were just looking for the easy road. Yes, we may have taken a break if you didn't do anything, and yes, odds are that Katlyn would be treated like any other seven-year-old by Mom and Dad, but at least she would be able to cope eventually. _"_ I continued to yell.

"Caleb, I didn't see any other way. What is done is done, so listen up. You are going to give here something else to look forward to, something she can only do while she is traveling. Basically, you are going to look for something else that will give her hope. I calculate that it may be about a month and a half before you reach Lavender town. There are many cities and towns between the here and Lavender. Just keep her mind off of changing back. _"_ Just as Maggie finished talking, the door to the room swung open.

"Maggie! Caleb! We have some great news! There is a place that may be able to change Katlyn back, and it's close to a place where Mew is known to have been." Sam exclaimed excitedly as he ran through the open door. I gave Maggie a harsh stare.

* * *

It has been a while since I have had an opportunity to explain my reasoning for a chapter. The illusion I used in this chapter is possible for a Ninetales to make. In the episode Just Waiting On a Friend, Brock befriends an old Ninetales. This Ninetales created an illusion of a young woman, which caused Brock to do what Brock does best. The M91 Dragoon was a Russian bolt-action riffle first designed in the late 19th century. It was used as a military riffle until WWII. I can't remember if Ninetales can use future sight or not. I am pretty sure I can because I have a Ninetales that can on Pokémon Black 2, but it came from my brother who likes to hake things, so I don't know if it's legit. If anyone has anything to say, you know what to do. If you like, the story be sure to hit that follow/favorite button. One more thing before I sign off, this chapter has put OMAA at about 75,000 words, so thanks to all of you who have been supporting this story and have inspired me to keep it up, and a special thanks to those of you who have favorited, followed, and reviewed the story. That's all for now, this is Shieldliger001 signing off.


	24. Chapter 24

What's up everyone? I know this chapter is a little late, but school started to get in the way a little. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Eric566: I thought that false hope could go to different ways with Katlyn. She will persevere through the realization of her hope being fake or she will she will be crushed by the wave of despair

Rayrudan: You are absolutely right. Throughout history, hope has never been able to be destroyed. Whether it was King George the third trying to destroy American rebels hoping for freedom, or the hope that one day this world will know peace.

Caitou zzzzzz: Basically, what Maggie did that was illegal is break into someone's house and threaten him with a gun. The shrine is what Maggie lied about. It really isn't going to heal anyone. She didn't want Katlyn to lose hope so she made it up.

Ok, so now onto the story.

* * *

 **The truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable.**

 **James A. Garfield**

* * *

 **Chapter 24**

 **Caleb's POV**

I mind was reeling from the sudden flood of information. I couldn't help but to look at Maggie with mistrusting eyes. Maggie returned my gaze with a sad smile.

"That's great guys. When do we leave?" I asked as I tried to sound excited.

"Not for another day or two. We bumped into your sister's boyfriend. He is taking a look at that Pokéball Lawrence is in." Mom said happily. Maggie immediately lightened up.

"At least one good thing happened today. _"_ I muttered.

"Did you say something?" Katlyn asked me.

"No, no, I didn't say anything. Congratulations, now all we have to do is get there now. Right Maggie? _"_

"I hope that you all have a good trip. _"_ Maggie said with a false sense of happiness.

"You three won't be leaving right away anyways. We have to wait until Maggie can change Sam back," Mom reminded. "We will be heading back to Saffron City in a couple of days, so he'll come with us."

 **Third Person POV**

Lab 24 was unusually quiet today. Aside from Dr. Mitchel's typing there wasn't a sound to be heard. The silence continued for a couple of minutes before the Rocket Scientist sighed and got up. He went to a refrigerator and pulled out a rack of vials. He gently placed them on a table.

"Let's get this next test over with." He sighed as he pulled out a needle gun. After placing a vial into a slot in the needle gun, he went into another room and wheeled out a test subject on a medical trolley. Taking the needle gun in his left hand. He shot the vial of nano bots into the subject. The creature on the table was just your average Weedle. Almost instantly, the creature began to wriggle in obvious pain. After about a minute, the creature became limp.

"Test subject five hundred and fifty, is deceased. I am now taking blood samples from the subject." The doctor took a clean needle from a drawer and drew some blood from the dead Weedle. He placed the sample under a microscope and began to study it. "Blood shows high concentrations of silicon and steel. Subject died of blood poisoning." Dr. Mitchel concluded.

"Doctor, Mr. Giovanni would like to speak to you. Please report to Testing Lab 15." A voice reported over the lab's intercom.

"Great, right when I am in the middle of something." The doctor complained as he took of his lab coat and hung it on a hook next to the door.

It only took the doctor a couple of minutes before he got to the testing lab. As soon as the door opened, Dr. Mitchel saw Giovanni standing over the large testing floor. The room itself was little more than a small pod floating above football field sized room. Ant-like people went about their routines. The doctor and Giovanni looked down upon the people below as if they were mere insects.

"Doctor. Mitchel, I have been thinking about your project lately. How many test subjects have you put through your tests, after the research was destroyed?" the Boss asked innocently. Mitchel instantly began to sweat as he began to realize that Giovanni was playing with him.

"Five hundred and fifty sir." He answered.

"Very good. Now, do you remember if you used an Eevee or any of its evolutions as a subject?"

"No sir, we did not use any Eevee or its other forms. They are too rare to use as subjects."

"You are correct. You didn't use any Eevee in your experiments, but your predecessor did. When he first designed the nano bots, he found a compatible Pokémon almost instantly. Do you remember the coalition we had with Team Flare?"

"I was fairly new to the team back then sir, but yes I do recall hearing about the agreement from one of the senior scientist."

"That coalition was to allow scientific research to be completed with help from each team. They had the materials and we had the techniques. If it weren't for the Kalos military finding our research base six years ago, we would have finished hundreds of the projects we now have on hiatus. Your predecessor's research was one of those things. His research was destroyed when one of our own research bases was found by the Kanto Intelligence Agency. We still have the list of his first ten test subjects. The only subject that turned up as compatible was a Jolteon. The other nine subjects died in much of the same way as your subjects. Tell me doctor, why is that fact so important?"

"Well Eevee is known as the evolution Pokémon. Its genetic code is so unstable that it can literally adapt… That's it! Eevee are considered the most adaptable Pokémon in the world. Its DNA was able to use the nano bots as an adaption!" Dr. Mitchel exclaimed as the answer dawned on him.

"Very good Doctor. Now that you have the answer, I want you to find a way to make Human DNA more adaptable. I don't want hybrids; they stick out to much on the field. I need something that can blend in with a crowd that can also take more punishment then the average human."

"I will get right on it, Sir!" Mitchel said excitedly.

"Oh Doctor, what is your status on the other project?" Giovanni asked expectantly.

"I really haven't gotten around to it, Sir." Mitchel replied quietly.

"Well then. We had better get you started. Bring in the Ninetales." Giovanni yelled. Down in the testing lab, workers were bringing in large barred walls. They then set them up in a Square. "I really hate doing this. It would have been better if you had just done what you were told Doctor. Bring in the Ninetales and the test subject." Giovanni ordered into a com link. A single worker emerged from the crowd of engineers with a proud looking Ninetales beside him. The Ninetales step into the cage without being told and laid down.

"Dr. Mitchel, take these, you might want to see this." Giovanni replied as he handed Mitchel a pair of binoculars. Mitchel peered through them and waited. A few seconds later, a young woman, dressed in overalls like the rest of the engineers, came striding in carrying a young boy. A large lump formed in Mitchel's throat as recognition surged through his brain.

"No, Sir please, don't do this. Not to my Grandson." Mitchel begged.

"What's wrong Doctor? You said that Ninetales couldn't curse things. I remember you telling me that personally. If that is true, then you have nothing to worry about." Giovanni smirked. "Proceed with the test."

The young woman placed the young boy inside the hastily constructed cage. The young woman said a few things to the boy and the boy nodded. The Ninetales stared intently at the boy. The boy, who wasn't much older then nine years old walked up to the Ninetales and began to gently pet the creature. The Ninetales seemed to enjoy the attention until the small boy's hand touched one of the tails that it had wrapped around its body. It happened within a split second. The Ninetales glowed bright blue, as did the boy. He began to shrink rapidly and pale yellow fur sprouted all over the boy's arms and legs his ears morphed into triangles that seemed to dwarf his shrinking body. Soon the boy's clothes became too big for him and he was engulfed by the garments. A couple more minutes went by and little could be seen. The Ninetales waited and licked its chops. Its murderous intent all but clear. Finally, there was movement within the pile of clothing.

"Someone tranquilize the Ninetales and get the kid out of there. On second thought, bring him up here." Giovanni spoke through the intercom. A few grunts that were in the room removed stun guns from their holsters. They shot the Ninetales several times and opened the door to the make shift cage. The same woman that walked the boy inside the cage picked up the pile of clothing and stared at it sadly. A small yellow head with large black ears peeked out of the shirt. Through the binoculars, Mitchel could see tears forming in his grandson's eyes. "Well Dr. Mitchel, I would say that there is enough proof that a Ninetales can curse humans. Next time I ask you to do something; you do it immediately. Today was just a warning. The next time you step out of line, you will be the one in the cage. Tell your grandson that I said hello." Giovanni said maliciously. "Before I forget; if you can find away to make my nano bots work with humans; then I will think about helping your grandson." He added as he left the room. Mitchel collapsed to his hands and knees, and began to cry.

"One day, Giovanni. One day." Mitchel vowed silently. A few minutes later, the young woman carrying Mitchel's grandson delivered the bundle to the doctor.

"I am so sorry Doctor. At least you got it easy." She said softly.

"You call this easy?" Mitchel said bitterly.

"Yes, once I forgot to tune a servo actuator to the specs on one of our drones. The drone malfunctioned in the field. It was captured by the government. My mistake cost the lives of ten military soldiers and fifteen Rocket members. Giovanni's warning to me was terrible. He personally shot five rounds into my brother's body. One in each arm and leg then one in the throat. He then let my brother drown in his own blood, in front of my very eyes." She replied calmly.

"Why. Why are we here?"

"Because we made a mistake. We can't get out. Not really. So we do our jobs the best we can. We dream that one day we will get out." With that, the woman left and returned to her work.

 **Katlyn's POV**

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Sam and I talked about our plans, and it seems that he wants to see this thing through to the end. Mom went out to pick us up some food so she didn't hear our conversation. Caleb seemed strangely distant throughout the day. Every time I asked what was bothering him, he would say that nothing is wrong and would walk off. I shrugged this off and decided that he was just still mad that he didn't get to go this morning. Sam and I continued to plan our next move for the next leg of our trip.

Before we could blink, darkness had fallen over the city. The dark rain clouds continued to pour rain on us, making the night anything but peaceful. Somehow, I managed to finally get to sleep.

"Katlyn, get up and get dressed." Mom said softly. I moaned and dragged the blanket over my head. That didn't go over to well with my mom. She marched off somewhere but I didn't care, until a few seconds later. A cold, wet liquid washed all over my warm blanket. I quickly jolted from my bed.

"It's about time you got out of bed." Mom said innocently.

"Why did you do that?" I yelled. Mom looked at me with a smile.

"Just get ready to leave. Sam is already up and ready to leave. We have to pick up Lawrence from Jordan. Once we do that we are going to pack up everything here and head home."

"You didn't have to splash me." I pouted quietly.

"Next time get up when you are told." Sam teased.

"Coming from the three year old. How long did it take you to get to sleep last night? Three? Four hours?" I shot back.

"I wasn't tired. What's wrong with talking?" Sam asked.

"The problem was that the two of you were keeping me up with your arguing." Mom replied. "Katlyn, hurry up and get into something presentable. We have need leave."

"Fine, I'm going." I said as I rolled my eyes.

 **Caleb's POV**

Mom made me stay home again since they were heading to the college. I didn't want to stay at the hotel again with Maggie, but Mom was adamant.

"Look, I don't want to talk, hear, or even see you. So, I am going to pretend that you are not even here." I said harshly.

"Caleb, I had to. Can't you see that it was the only option I had?"

"You had a second option! You couldn't leave things well enough alone! The only reason that I don't tell everyone what you did is because I don't want Katlyn to have a nervous breakdown!" I shouted. Maggie began to speak but then shut her mouth. She then curled up into a ball and sadly stared at me. I blew her off and jumped onto one of the beds. The remote for the TV was lying on the bed. I careful pressed the power button with one of my claws and began channel surfing.

"Caleb, I'm sorry. I hope you realize that I only did this to help." Maggie apologized after about ten minutes.

"Maggie, I know you wanted to help, but this could have made things worse. If you really wanted to help, you should have just encouraged her that things would be better. That is all she really needs." I replied.

"If I could go back, I would. But I can't. I just hope you can forgive."

"Maggie, I can and have. However, that doesn't mean that I am not angry still." I said. Maggie looked at me thankfully. "If you don't mind. Do you think you could still teach me how to fight?" Maggie looked at me in surprise; then smiled.

"Sure I will. You need to be able to protect your sister when you are traveling." Maggie replied.

 **Sam's POV**

We stood outside your average college dorm room, and waited. After about thirty seconds, the door opened a crack and the same man from yesterday peered out. When he saw Mrs. Ward, he quickly unchained his door and invited us in.

"Hey Mrs. Ward. I can't wait to show you that Pokéball you gave me. I was able to hack it using my standard USB port and a wireless high frequency receiver, but I had to crank up the power on the receiver quite a bit just to get any reaction. I basically blew out the power grid for a few minutes. Anyways, the Pokéball's computer code basically gave me a full diagram of how this model works. It's quite simple really…"

"Jordan, this is way over my head. I still can't get my phone to work right. Just skip to the part where you got it open." Mrs. Ward said with slight annoyance in her voice.

"Oh, right. Well, you have to hold the activation button for five seconds. After five seconds, you will hear the computer ask for a password. Then you have to say the password. I just reset it, as 'go' that way it would be easy to remember. Here, watch." Jordan held the Pokéball in a way that would be easy for us to see. He held the button for five seconds then yelled the password. The ball flashed open and released its captive. The red fox appeared and seemed to be happy about being outside the Pokéball.

"He definitely is happy to be outside." Jordan commented.

"He sure does. Well, Jordan, I'm sorry we can't stay longer but we are heading back to Saffron today, so we need to get ready to leave." Mrs. Ward replied.

"Oh, before you leave, I was wondering who that is." Jordan pointed at me, causing me to shy away a little.

"This is Sam. He is my sister's son. Say hi, Sam." I waved at the computer nerd. Jordan waved back then walked us out.

"Bye Mrs. Ward. Be sure to drop by if you're in the neighborhood. Bye Sam. Bye…Bye Katlyn." I looked at Katlyn who had frozen in her tracks. "You don't have to be coy. Don't you remember how much time we spent at your house when we were in elementary school? I would recognize you anywhere. Well I guess this is bye. Katlyn I hope you find whatever you need to come back." Jordan smiled slightly then walked back inside his dorm. Katlyn smiled also, but a stream of tears had defeated the smile's purpose.

"Mom, did you tell him?" she asked quietly. Mrs. Ward shook her head. "Oh, we better get back to the hotel." Katlyn sighed sadly.

 **Caleb's POV**

I don't know how many times I tried, but my throat began to hurt as I tried unsuccessfully to use my inner flame. I could fell it deep inside me, but I just couldn't pull it out. Maggie smiled at my pitiful attempts until I couldn't do it any longer.

"Caleb, I have an idea. I am going to try something to help you use a fire move. Basically, I will take control of you and let you feel how to release the move. Then you can try." Maggie didn't give me time to protest. I felt as though my mind was pushed to the side by another. I could still feel everything but I couldn't control my body. What happened next is really hard to describe. I felt my insides just clench shut. I could feel the fire in my belly push through my esophagus and into my mouth. My mouth opened and small sparks shot out. They hit a rock sitting nearby. The rock's only visible damage was some small burns on its surface. My mind suddenly felt as though I had regained control.

"What did you just do?" I asked.

"It's something my dad did when I was young. It's basically a training tool." She replied. "Now, you try to do what I did." I nodded and tried to remember how it felt to launch the fire type move. I tried to feel everything that I did when Maggie was in control. I felt my throat bubble and burn the same way as it did before. When it went into my mouth, I released it. A few small sparks escaped my mouth and landed only a few feet away from me.

"This is impossible!" I yelled in frustration.

"You actually did better then you think. You just made a small spark. That means that the fire is in you. There are some Vulpix that don't even have that spark of fire in them. It's extremely rare, and they die off rather quickly. In fact, I don't think any human has ever seen this disorder. You should be glad that you can make a few sparks." Maggie encouraged.

"I guess you're right, but I just want to be stronger. If there is any way, I can get my human self back. It's through getting stronger." I replied. I could only imagine what my fight with Mew's son would be like. In some instances, I thought it would be total annihilation. That I would just instantly vanish in a ball of psychic energy. Other times, I imagined that I wouldn't even give the kid a chance to react and I finish with a single strike. I imagined so many scenarios in my mind that, sometimes, I can't even think straight. There was one thing I was sure of; I would not go down without a fight.

 **Katlyn's POV**

When we reached the hotel room. We found that it was completely deserted. It was obvious that someone had been in there, since the bed sheets of my bed were dry.

"Where are Caleb and Maggie?" Sam asked.

"She probably took Caleb someplace to relax. She does this from time to time. Let's get everything packed and then we can find Maggie and Caleb." Mom said.

"Hurray, packing." I mumbled. I pulled out my backpack out from under my bed and started to put my things into it.

After about an hour of packing and repacking, we finally finished. We loaded everything into the car and we began to search for Caleb and Maggie. We brought Lawrence with us since he could pretty much find anything with his nose.

"They are over this way. My mom must be training Caleb or something. _"_ He said as he led us through a small park.

"How do you know that they are training?" I asked.

"I can smell smoke. That means either she is training Caleb, or she is fighting someone. I can only smell Caleb and Moms scent from here so I am assuming that she is training him." Lawrence explained.

"I guess that makes senses. How much farther?" I asked.

"Just straight ahead. Since there aren't any other Pokémon out here today, it's pretty easy to track them down. _"_ Lawrence smelled the air one more time then nodded.

"If that's the case, let's surprise your mom." I grabbed the Authority Ball from my belt and hit the center button the red button sent out a beam of light that caught Lawrence in the back. He was sucked into the ball without as much as a peep.

"Katlyn, why do you have to make things so difficult?" Mom asked.

"Hey, this will be a good surprise for her." I said defensively.

"You're liable of being cursed again. If that happens, who knows how long I'll be stuck like this." Sam muttered.

"I didn't ask your opinion, Sam."

"You got it anyway. So stop thinking of yourself!" Sam yelled.

"I'm not thinking of myself! I just want to surprise Maggie, you moron!"

"You obviously were! You didn't even ask Lawrence if he wanted to surprise his mom!" Sam yelled back.

"I guess I didn't." I admitted quietly. I held the center button for a few seconds; then quietly, said go. Lawrence reappeared and he didn't seem happy.

"What the heck was that, Katlyn! _"_ he yelled. "Do you know how long I've been waiting to get out of that thing? _"_ He yelled.

"Yeah, I know. I just wanted to surprise your mom, that's all. I should have asked you first." I said apologetically.

"It's ok. Before you ask, no I don't want to go back in there. I need to stretch my legs for a while. _"_

"Ok, well, let's find your mom and Caleb." I said.

"You guys are really going to have to teach me how to talk to Pokémon. It gets really annoying not knowing what y'all are saying." Sam said.

"Trust me; it takes a lot of practice and time. It's not something that you pick up in a week." I replied.

"I don't care. I just want to make sure that you guys aren't saying anything bad about me."

"I can assure you that they aren't. If they were, I would have stopped them a long time ago. Now, let's go get Maggie and your brother. I would like to get home sometime today." Mom said as she continued to walk where Lawrence directed.

 **Caleb's POV**

Maggie had me practicing again and again. Little by little, she helped my sparks become small flames. They were nowhere near the strength that I needed but it was a start.

"Now that you have the basics of Ember down. We are going to work on your accuracy. I'm going to set these sticks up in a row and you are going to see how many you can hit. _"_ She explained as she stuck four sticks into the moist soil. _"_ Now, try it. _"_ I breathed in and let my inner flame grow from the extra oxygen. As soon as I felt it ready, I brought the small flames out into the air. I sent the sparks towards the first stick, and missed completely.

"Go on to the next one. Don't keep aiming at the one you missed. _"_ I nodded and tried to hit the second one. My Ember overshot the stick and hit a tree trunk. I held my breath for a few seconds, thinking the tree may erupt into flames, but it never so much as smoldered. I let my breath out and aimed at the third stick. I launched the Ember, which barely skimmed the stick. It left a slight burn on the stick to signify my slight victory. I then looked at the last stick with determination. I breathed in slowly then calmly brought the sparks into my mouth. I then released them at the stick. The sparks flew over the stick and into the bushes.

"Darn it! I freaking suck this! _"_ I yelled angrily.

"Don't be to upset. It takes practice to use moves. Besides, you definitely hit something. I am feeling someone's emotions soar through the roof. The screaming should start right about now. _"_ As if on queue, a girl's screaming pierced the veil of silence that had encompassed the forest. There was a sudden blur of movement that seemed to leap from the place my Ember had entered. To my horror, it was Katlyn. Her white t-shirt was no longer white, but black and smoldering. She did what any sane person would do. She panicked and dropped to the ground and began to roll around. The next thing I heard was laughter coming from the same direction. Sam and my mom also appeared out of the bushes.

"What are y'all doing here? _"_ I asked out of surprise.

"We brought someone who wants to see both of you. Then we are going to head back to the hotel and going home." Mom said as she finished climbing over the brush.

"First, I am going to kill you! What in the world were doing anyway?" Katlyn yelled as she got up again. "Look at what you did to my shirt!"

"You should have been more careful. You never know what will jump out of the forest. _"_ A new voice said. After a couple of seconds of thinking, I realized who it was.

"Lawrence! You're free! _"_ I exclaimed. I wasn't the only one who was excited. Maggie launched herself over me and tackled her son.

"Lawrence! Are you ok? You look fine! I missed you! _"_

"Mom, can we...do this later? You are squeezing me...to hard. _"_ Lawrence wheezed as his mother smothered him.

"Ok son, I'm sorry. Let's go back to hotel and talk for a while. _"_

"Sounds good to me. Mom, I missed you. _"_

"I missed you to. _"_

* * *

Finally, Lawrence is back! I was starting to think that he would never get free of that Pokéball. Just kidding, I was always going to get him out. This chapter is a little happier then the last one. And it seems that Katlyn, Sam, Lawrence, and Caleb finally have a new destination. The whole reason I put Dr. Mitchel into this chapter is to show that he is not completely evil. This event will actually be a major turning point for Dr. Mitchel, but I won't give away any spoilers. The last thing I wanted to show was that Giovanni isn't as patient as I was making him out to be. As for Jordan, I have something planned for him later but he won't make another appearance for a while. If y'all have anything to say, you know what to do. If you are enjoying this story, smash that favorite/follow button. This is shieldliger001 signing off.


	25. Chapter 25

What's up everyone, shield here with another chapter. First off, I am sorry that this chapter is coming out so late, but I have a good excuse. I have stopped writing on my old gateway net book and have transferred this story to my brand new Surface Pro! It took me from Tuesday of last week to Friday to get everything set up and for me to get semi familiar with the new computer. Enough of this, let's get on to the reviews.

Monpoke: I just want to say thank you for all of the support you have shown this story. And thanks for adding my story to your community. I hope that you continue to follow the story. Thanks again.

Rayrudan: The last chapter was definitely bright, although I think I am better at writing depressing and dark chapters. It's sad but true. I also hate the whole Pokémon stuck in the Pokéball thing, but I just feel that if I have them all out at once for any extended period of time, that I will get the characters mixed up.

Phillip Harbindinger: Thanks for the criticism. Like a lot of people, I have a nasty habit of using "to" and "too" the wrong way. Thanks for telling me or I probably wouldn't have watched for it. I hope I did better in this chapter. The Pichu TF in the last chapter is actually just a coincidence. I figured that IF Ninetales was going to eat anything for a snack, it would be a small mouse, that and I like Pichu and its evolutions.

Foxyjosh: Actually the transformation was a Pichu. If you got confused, it was my fault. I should have been more descriptive. I was thinking about a Fennekin for this part, but decided against it for two reasons. The first is that, if the Ninetales did eat it, it seemed kind of cannibalistic to me. The second reason is that Fennekin's next to evolutions look like girls and I felt that it would feel kind of awkward. I wouldn't say that Dr. Mitchel has a new Pokémon because technically the Pichu is still his grandson.

Ok, on to the story!

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 **A story to me means a where there is some surprise. Because that is how life is – full of surprises.**

 **Isaac Bashevis Singer**

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 **Chapter 25**

 **Lawrence's POV**

I can't really put what I felt into words. Mom wanted me to tell her everything that happened inside the Pokéball, but somehow, anyway I tried to explain it seemed to not sound right. The only thing I told her was that it seemed like a life-like replica. Somehow, it didn't bother me. The fact that I was in a fake world for several days, just didn't sink in for me. I acknowledged that it happened but it just didn't affect me as much as I was told it would. After about an hour of trying to explain my feelings and after Caleb had shown us what he had learned, we got into Mrs. Ward's car and began the trek to Saffron City.

"Hey Sam, I've been thinking. How are you going to beat Sabrina? She is a psychic type gym leader so you really don't have anything that will be effective against a psychic." Katlyn asked as we bounced down the highway.

"I was thinking about catching another Pokémon, but I want to try this with only Marik, unless the rules say otherwise. Marik does know Bite, but that is probably not enough."

"Gee, you think?" Katlyn said sarcastically. "You need some more fire power for this one. I've been thinking about this for a while now."

"You know how to think? Somebody call an ambulance because I think Katlyn hit her head! _"_ Caleb laughed.

"Don't call an ambulance, it's a miracle. Not a disease." I snickered.

"Quiet both of you! Or I will rip you both a new one!" Both Caleb and I quickly stopped our laughing and sat quietly on the seat. "Now, as I was saying, I've been thinking about your battles. I will have to talk to Basil about this first, but I want you to train him. I am a terrible trainer and it would be better if he had someone who knows what they are doing teach him."

"Katlyn, I can't. He is your Pokémon."

"I see him and I feel that fail him ever time he battles."

"Katlyn, I'm sure Basil thinks highly of you. You were practically the only thing he talked about while I was inside the Pokéball. He told me that he felt that he wasn't doing enough for you. _"_ I interrupted.

"That's not true. He does everything I need him to. I am the one that needs to do more for him. That is why I think Sam should train him. I just am not strong enough to train him properly." Katlyn replied.

"Katlyn, let's talk about this when we get to your house. Besides we will need to talk about this with Basil's input."

"OK, we will talk about this when we get home." Katlyn sighed.

 **Katlyn's POV**

"But Mistress. I am your loyal ssservant. To ssserve anyone else would be an insssult! _"_ Basil exclaimed. We had made it home without incident, and I had immediately shown Sam to my room. Basil towered over both Sam and I like a mountain towering over a house.

"You wouldn't be serving him at all. He would be like…like your appointed tutor. He wouldn't be your trainer, but you will be obligated to help him when he needs you." I explained. "Besides, you would be able to spend more time outside your Pokéball if you accept." I added.

"Is this true Mistress? _"_ I nodded. _"_ Well, Mistress, I will consssent. _"_ The Arbok replied quietly. _"_ Know thisss boy, if you try to ssstop me from helping my mistress, my wrath will be far worssse then anything Mew, or even Arceus himself, could hope of releasing on you. _"_ Sam looked at me in confusion.

"Basically he said that if I'm in trouble, and you stop him. He will beat the crap out of you." I replied as Basilisk nodded.

"Oh, well, I guess I have no choice, not that I would ever do that." Sam replied.

"I know that, but Basil doesn't get out much so he doesn't know you very well." I replied.

"Don't you think that you should change that? I really don't know any of your other Pokémon."

"I guess. It's just that Zan doesn't really like me and Jack is really his friend, so I thought that they would rather spend time together without me around, that's all." I said.

"Katlyn, Just get them out for a little bit. They need out for a while." Sam said. I thought for a few seconds then unclipped the two Pokéballs from my belt and opened them.

"Finally, some fresh air. Hey Katlyn, what's up? _"_ Jack asked.

"Not much, We made it to my house in Saffron City today. I thought that you and Zan would like to get out of the Pokéballs for a while." I looked over at Zan, who just looked at me with his same mistrusting look. "How are you doing today, Zan?" I asked the glaring Jolteon.

"Katlyn, you are going to have to get Lawrence remember? _"_ Jack reminded.

"Lawrence and Caleb was in here earlier. Where did they go? They should be here to." Sam said to me.

"I'm going to go find them. You coming or what?" I asked Sam as I headed for the hallway. Sam nodded then began to follow. "Basil, you Jack, and Zan can stay in here if you want to. I really don't think that I will need any protection in my own house."

"If you insist Mistress." the large snake replied.

 **Caleb's POV**

"It's been a long time since we have been at this spot. I almost forgot how beautiful it was _."_ Lawrence said as we sat on the veranda. The veranda sat on the second floor of our house and it connected my room to Katlyn's and my parent's room. The veranda sits above a closed off porch that we use as a second dinning area. The veranda overlooks the outer city where we can see the sun rise if we are up early enough. Even though our house is within the city limits of Saffron, we are in a rural type area. It is sometimes hard to believe that only a mile away is a large modern city.

"It's been, what, seven or eight months since we've been home? _"_ I asked.

"More like a year and two months. You aren't counting the two months that we already have spent with Katlyn. _"_ Lawrence said.

"So, did you hear the news about our next stop? _"_

"Yeah, I heard that we are heading to Lavender Town because of some shrine. _"_ Lawrence said.

"Yeah, something like that. I think I need your advice about something. If someone did something they knew was wrong, but did it to help someone else, is that alright? _"_ I asked.

"I guess it depends on how bad it was, and how bad the consequences are if they didn't do anything, compared to if they did do something. _"_ Lawrence replied.

"What if, they didn't do anything and it caused that person to have a nervous breakdown. So they gave them some sort of hope. That hope wasn't real but it makes them last a little bit longer. _"_

"Caleb, what is going on? _"_

"Well, your mom indirectly told Katlyn that a shrine in Lavender would change her back to normal. The problem is that there is a shrine but she made up the healing part. _"_ I sighed.

"Why would my mom say something like that? That is... is just cruel. _"_ Lawrence said harshly. _"_ If my mom can't tell her the truth, then you should. It's not right that she would have to go through that. _"_

"I know that, but I don't think I can do it. _"_ I replied sullenly.

"Hold on, I will be right back. _"_ Lawrence left and went through my bedroom door. I watched the countryside around me as I waited for Lawrence to come back. It didn't take long for Lawrence to return and he brought the very person I was talking about with him.

"There you are. Lawrence said that you had something you wanted to talk to me about." Katlyn said as she closed the sliding door that led to the veranda. I glared at Lawrence for a couple of seconds then returned my gaze to my sister.

"Well, you see, I have been thinking about this since we found out about that shrine thing, and I think that you should... you should know. _"_

"I should know what?"

"I think that you should know, that I think you should try some contests while we travel down there. There are a few beginning contests that you could practice in. _"_ I said with closed eyes.

"Wow, the way you were acting, I thought that you had some bad news or something. Alright, I will think about it." She turned around and began to head back inside. "I almost forgot, I need you and Lawrence to follow me. We are going to have a team meeting in my room."

"Alright, we're coming. _"_ I replied.

"Caleb! What were you thinking? You need to tell her the truth right now! _"_ Lawrence whispered angrily.

"Lawrence, shut up! You don't have a sister! You don't know how delicate you have to be! Besides, if I tell her, she might never be the same! _"_ I whispered back. Lawrence looked at me sadly, then walked after Katlyn.

"Are you coming or what? I'm not going to sit here and wait for you all day." Katlyn said impatiently.

"I'm coming, I'm coming. _"_ I replied.

 **Sam's POV**

While Katlyn decided to search the upstairs, I decided to search the downstairs. I didn't find anyone aside from Mrs. Ward so I just headed back to Katlyn's room. Once I reached the top of the stairs, I found Katlyn just opening her door with Caleb and Lawrence stand beside her. Katlyn heard me walking up behind her and looked at me. She then opened her door. There was electricity flying everywhere. Jack was huddled on top of the bed watching the fight in horror, as Zan went flying across the room. Basil was slithering towards the fallen Jolteon. Zan jumped up and shot several Pin Missiles at the incoming snake. They hit Basil on his long body. Basil double backed from the attack. Zan jumped at him, revealing electrically charged fangs as he flew. Somehow, I knew that this was going to be an interesting conversation.

 **Katlyn's POV**

"What in the world is going on here?" I yelled.

"Mistress! I... I didn't see you standing there. _"_ Basil stammered.

"Basilisk, shut your mouth and explain to me why you and Zan are turning my room into a disaster area."

"Well, you see, thisss... thisss imbecile. Attacked me for no reason. _"_ the Arbok hissed as he motioned at Zan. Zan looked over behind me at Lawrence then closed his eyes.

" _I didn't attack you for no reason, you idiot! You were talking about food in front of Jack! It wouldn't be so bad except that his species was on your list of appetizers!"_ Zan yelled telepathically.

"I wasn't going to eat your friend! I was just trying to stop feeling hungry! _"_ Basil yelled back.

" _If it wasn't for our moron of a trainer, then you wouldn't be hungry."_ Zan shot back.

"How is this my fault?" I yelled defensively.

" _Because, when you are in a Pokéball, it slows down the metabolism. Just because we are in it, doesn't mean we don't get hunger, you idiot!"_

"Don't you ever call my Mistress an idiot! Ssshe wouldn't have let us go hungry if ssshe had known! _"_

" _Why do you insist on defending her! She is a human, you brainless coot!"_

"Becaussse, ssshe besssted me, you yellow cactus! _"_

" _You are an overgrown snake skinned belt!"_

"Yeah, well you are a sssuper charged airhead! _"_

"You both are complete idiots! Ok, so I didn't know that you guys get hungry! Neither one of you guys are dying! I was going to make you all lunch anyway! I will be right back! If I hear another peep out of either of you, then I am going to personally see to it that neither of you will be able to move for the entire rest of the week!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. The two Pokémon stared at me dumbstruck. Before either of them could say another word, I turned around and slammed the door.

"What just happened?" Sam asked as we headed back downstairs.

"Oh, just another day in the life. Come on, I'm going to need some help carrying the food up to them."

 **Sam's POV**

I helped carry food bowls upstairs to Katlyn's room. Katlyn and I both had two bowls of Pokechow so I had to put one of the bowls down to open the door.

"Hey Sam, let Marik out for a bit. We are going to teach both Basil and Zan a little lesson about getting along." Katlyn said as I began to turn the knob.

"Ok, but I don't think I understand what this is going to prove." I replied. I released Marik and Katlyn explained her plan. "This is going to be so cruel, you know that?" I asked.

"Maybe so, but it's not like they won't get to eat afterwards. Let's just get this party started." I shook my head and opened the door.

"Ok, dinner is served. Jack, here is your food. Lawrence here's yours. Marik, Sam has your food. And Caleb I have your food also." Katlyn said as we began to dish out the food. I looked at Caleb, since he has frequent fits about his food, amusingly. He began to growl and whine as Katlyn began to brandish a bottle of milk.

"Caleb, don't give me any of that crap, today. Besides, mom said that it's time to slowly get you off the bottle. This bottle has more solids in it then your normal food." the Vulpix growled a bit but otherwise didn't make another noise.

" _Where is our food?"_ Zan asked.

"You two had enough energy to fight so I thought that you didn't need anything to eat." Katlyn replied resolutely.

" _Katlyn, you little, can't you see we are starving? Basilisk, you are hungry to aren't you?"_ the Jolteon yelled angrily. The Arbok said something that just made Zan even more angry.

I watched as the four Pokémon ate their dinner. Both Zan and Basil, watched in hunger as everyone else ate. Finally, after about fifteen minutes, everyone had finished eating. Zan looked as if he was about to keel over, and Basilisk was lying on the ground already.

"I'm going to be right back. Sam, you coming?" I nodded and began to pick up a few of the dishes.

"You know, some would say that you were being cruel in there." I said as I shut the door behind me.

"Hey, I just want to show them that a strong team doesn't fight. I think they got my point."

"You should really take your own advice. If you are going to have Pokémon, you need to spend more time with them." I lectured.

"I know. When we start traveling again, I plan on letting them out more. Besides, I might try some contests while we are traveling. Caleb said that he thinks I should give them a shot. Put those in the sink over there. I'm going to get two more bowls." Katlyn said as she opened up a cabinet. I placed all of the dishes in the sink and helped Katlyn pour two more bowls for Zan and Basil. We took the two bowls back to Katlyn's room and let the two starving Pokémon eat. Neither one complained about a single thing afterwards.

 **Katlyn's POV**

Zan and Basil scarfed down their meals like tornadoes. Neither one complained afterwards and Zan even said that he was impressed that I would even think of doing something like that. After they had finished, we began to talk about the coming trip. We all agreed that it would be best to walk, since, if we needed to, we could lose anyone that was following us. We really didn't need a repeat of what happened in Fort Trell.

"Ok, I want to know what y'all think about me participating in a few contests while we travel. I already have Caleb's opinion."

"I think that it would be great. It will be a new experience for you. _"_ Jack said enthusiastically.

" _You do what you want. I don't think that you will win any contests if you bother using me. Besides, I'm too highly profiled to be seen in public like that."_ Zan said nonchalantly.

"I'll take that as a yes then. Basil, what do you think?"

"I will follow you Mistress. I don't know how much help I can be, but I will try. _"_

"Thanks Basil. Lawrence?"

"Well, I guess it's alright. I mean, it's not something I know much about, but hey, I think you should give it a shot. _"_ he said. There was something in his voice that seemed to say something else, but I couldn't place my finger on what it was.

"Great, I'll begin looking for the qualifications then. I have somethings to do, so Caleb is going to show y'all around until I get done." I said.

"Ok guys, follow me. _"_ He sighed as he led everyone out of my room.

 **Charles' POV**

The bustle of Saffron City was bringing back a flood of memories. Everything, from the sound of the cars to smells of the exhaust, all reminded me of the days before my recruitment into Team Rocket. Those days were the happiest I have ever had, but like they say, all good things must come to an end.

 **Flashback**

"Staff Sergeant Charles A. Renford. Reporting as ordered, Sir." I saluted the higher ranked officer.

"At easy sergeant." I lowered my hand from the salute and stood at ease. "I have heard some really good things about your platoon. Your leadership has proven above average on ever level. Your men respect you and would obey you if you needed them to do something that is potentially fatal. You have a promising future with the military, Staff Sergeant."

"Thank you Colonel Durant. I am doing everything I am doing my best sir."

"I am sure you are. Your career is not what I have called you here for. You have no living relatives, correct?"

"Yes sir. Both my parents and grandparents died during a boating accident ten years ago." I grimaced.

"Don't you have a sister living near the base?"

"N-no sir, she recently passed away."

"I see, here in the military, we recruit highly intelligent candidates into a special program. This program is highly top secret, so I can't tell you much about it. What I can tell you is that if you accept, you will be more help to your country then sitting in the barracks and planning your next strategy for the war games next month."

"If I refuse, sir?" I asked nervously.

"You will be allowed to leave freely. However, if you let anyone know about this conversation, I will be forced to have you killed. We can both agree that would a tremendous waste. What do you say Staff Sergeant?" The colonel asked.

"I would do anything for this country. I will do it sir." I said after a couple of seconds of deliberation.

"That is what I wanted to hear. I will get everything ready for the transfer. You enjoy your evening Sergeant, because after tonight you will be officially dead."

 **Flashback ends**

That afternoon was a lot like this afternoon. Everyone was out on the town, enjoying life. I stood in front of the very restaurant I had visited on my last night. To this day, I still don't understand what possessed me to get into this mess. I have learned one thing, what I am doing is for the best.

I wandered around Saffron for several hours. I already had the location of the girl, so I could do a little pleasure seeking while I had time. The boss wouldn't know since I masterfully set the tracker they had planted on me, in between the bushes that surrounded the house. Tonight I was going to spend some time by myself. Despite my hunger, I did not feel like eating. I slowly began to wander, not caring where I wind up.

I slowly found myself in front of a red brick house. The shutters had been locked shut for the night. The house was an old Victorian design, with a large porch wrapped around the front of the house like a belt. There was a single window open and inside was a young woman and her two kids, sitting at a table. A man in his early thirties came through a door and hugged the woman before he to sat down. I was tempted to knock on the door, but knew I couldn't. That day, when Colonel Durant asked if I had any family, I lied. This house was my sister's. I was mad at her for some stupid reason. I guess that was the reason I was in this mess in the first place. I knew I couldn't see her. Not until my mission is complete.

"Laura, I know you can't see you right now, but I promise I will see you as soon as I can." I vowed. I turned my back to that place of comfort. My vow seemed somewhat hollow. I felt that there was no end in sight to this mission.

 **Sam's POV**

"You have been quiet for the last few hours." I said as I pushed open Katlyn's door. Katlyn was sitting at her desk typing on her computer.

"I guess. I have just been looking at the schedules for the contests. There is one here in Saffron in two days. It's small, but it is a start. I'm going to see if I can go to it." Katlyn said tiredly.

"You seem like you are finally accepting your roll as a kid again." I said as Katlyn got up and flopped on her bed.

"I guess I am just used to it by now. I am just glad that I will be able to go back. So, what did you need?" she asked.

"I was just wondering what you were up to. Oh and your mom said that dinner is almost ready."

"Ok, thanks. I'll be down in a minute. Anything else?"

"Yeah, Maggie told me that she will be able to change me back, tomorrow." I said excitedly.

"Darn, I liked being older again. Don't get to comfortable. When we get to that shrine, you will be ten years my junior." she teased.

"Katlyn, what happens if this place isn't what you expect?" I asked solemnly.

"I don't know Sam. I really don't, but I just have to believe that it is there and that it can fix me." Katlyn replied with a nervous smile.

"If it doesn't turn out the way you expect, remember that me, Caleb, Lawrence, your parents, and your Pokémon will be there for you."

"Thanks Sam, but for now, let's think optimistically."

"Alright. Hey, we better get down stairs or we will miss dinner." I smiled.

"First one there gets to the table gets their choice of ice cream, when we hit the road." Katlyn yelled as she took off towards the door.

"Hey! No fair!" I yelled as I gave pursuit. Katlyn laughed as we ran down the stairs and into the foyer. We had almost made it halfway through the foyer and into the kitchen when Katlyn slid to a stop. The front door opened and a man stepped through. He shut the door then caught a glimpse of us. He froze in place and his skin quickly paled.

"Dad." Katlyn whispered. Katlyn's dad didn't take his eyes off his daughter. He didn't even say anything before he calmly walked into the kitchen.

"Let me guess, he didn't know." I whispered.

"I figured that Mom had already told him. Judging by his reaction, I guess she didn't. We better go back to my room. I don't think we are going to want to be here for the fight that is about to happen." Katlyn said.

"No, you will eat your dinner, and we will explain the situation to your dad." Mrs. Ward spoke as she peeked into the foyer.

"Ok, but what about Sam? This isn't exactly the same as explaining why I had a seventy on that math grade in high school." Katlyn said quietly.

"We will all eat dinner, and discuss the situation afterwards. That way Sam can eat, then leave if he wants to." Mrs. Ward replied firmly. "Now, go sit down at the table, and I will set out the food."

"Yes ma'am." Katlyn and I said simultaneously.

* * *

I don't think that this chapter is as good as some of my others. I really don't have anything to say except that I hope that y'all liked the chapter. If you have anything to say you know what to do. If you are enjoying the story smash that follow/favorite button. This is shieldliger001 signing off.


	26. Chapter 26

What's up everyone, shield here. I don't have much to say before we begin today so let's get this show on the road.

Monpoke: To answer your question, I want him to remain a Vulpix for the majority of the story I am going to start making him seem older now that it has been a while.

Philip Harbindinger: Gee thanks for the scavenger hunt lol. I will try to find that missing comma. The 'easy' and 'ease' was just a silly mistake. I watch a lot of Star Trek so don't feel to bad.

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 **A guy who has all the money he needs and never faced any hard times, he won't have any character. But when you've had it tough and you've had it rough and you thought that you were at the end of your rope and you work your way out of it, that's the way you build character.**

 **Bobby Bowden**

* * *

 **Chapter 26**

 **Sam's POV**

I fidgeted at my food nervously with my fork. Dinner was going slowly and was extremely awkward for everyone. Katlyn was also fidgeting with her food as her father stared between her and me.

"Ok, this is getting us nowhere. Tell me what is going on right now." Mr. Ward said as he placed his silverware down next to his plate. Katlyn stabbed a piece of her steak with her fork and placed it in her mouth.

"During Katlyn's travel, she went..."

"Dear, I want to hear it from her. This is her story to tell." He said irritably. Katlyn swallowed nervously and placed her silverware on the table.

"When I left Pallet, I went through the northeast forest. I was trying to use it as a shortcut, and..." Katlyn was instantly cut off by a loud bang. Her father had slammed his hand down on the table out of pure shock.

"You went through the northeast forest? Don't you know how dangerous that was? There have been people who have gone in there and have never come out. The police won't even go in there because of how many people have disappeared through that way. You are lucky to be here at all!" He yelled.

"I realize that now. Anyways, there was this Banette in the forest and he is the one that did this to me."

"Why am I just now finding out about this, and who is he?" Mr. Ward asked slightly more calmly.

"I'm Samuel Mattlov. I am a trainer from Pallet Town. I was the one your daughter was traveling with." I replied boldly.

"Were you an idiot like my daughter and went into that damned forest?" he asked angrily.

"N-no sir. I was always told to a-avoid it." I stammered.

"Well, what happened to you? You definitely don't look like you qualify to be a trainer." Mr. Ward asked a little more politely.

"That is a funny story, you see I was at the Fort Trell castle and...I...caused him to get younger." Katlyn finished with an anxious laugh. Several long minutes passed, the tension was as thick as mud. Finally, Mr. Ward stood up.

"I am going to go into the other room to cool down. This...this is just to much information to take in." Mr. Ward walked into the living room. The rest of us sat in silence.

"He took that better then I expected." Katlyn said, breaking the silence.

"Give him an hour or two then go talk to him. These last few months have been hard on him, especially after that incident in Viridian." Mrs. Ward replied. "You two finish eating and get ready for bed. Katlyn, once you are done, go talk to your father."

 **Katlyn's POV**

Both Sam and I were quiet as we went up the stairs. It was really strange seeing my dad in this body. I felt like I did when I really was seven. I showed Sam where the bathroom was and let him go first. I went into my room, sat on the bed, and cried. It wasn't loud sobbing. I don't know exactly why I was crying. I thought that I was at ease with everything that was happening, but it somehow helped me to feel calmer. It is weird but true.

"What are you so riled up about? _"_ the sound of Caleb's voice cut through my quiet sobs like a knife through soft butter.

"Dad came home. I'm supposed to talk to him after I get ready for bed." I muttered quietly.

"Get ready for bed? Did mom tell you to do that? _"_ I nodded yes. _"_ Jeez, you really are taking on the roll of a kid again. _"_

"Caleb, how do you keep the regret from showing? You never seem unhappy." I asked as more tears stained my face.

"Honestly, I don't have any regrets. I see everything that happened as a new experience. I know that something good will come out of it. _"_

"How can you say that? Look at what happened to you! Look what happened to me!" I yelled. The tears started to build up again as I yelled.

"I'm not saying everything that happened is a good thing. What happened to you and me, was bad and, hopefully, we can fix it. You have to look at the good that has also come out of it. _"_ Caleb stated.

"What good? I don't see anything that could possibly be good." I asked bitterly. 'What good would ever come from me stuck as a seven-year-old and Caleb stuck as an infant Vulpix?' I asked myself.

"Well, we met Zan and Jack. We met Basil. We met Sam, and most importantly, you and I became closer. That in and of itself is a good enough reason, don't you think?" Caleb walked up to my bed, and with surprising ease, jumped up next to me.

"I guess, it's just that I would have rather not have to be like this for any of those to happen." I replied as I motioned to myself.

"Just try and remember the good things. I'm going to try and find Lawrence. He and the others ran off somewhere and it's starting to become a pain trying to find them. _"_ For the first time since this whole ordeal happened, I placed my hand on Caleb's head and began to pet him. I quickly stopped when I realized what I was doing.

"Sorry, I don't know what came over me." I apologized. Caleb just smiled.

"If it helps you to feel better; go right ahead. _"_ Caleb looked up at with a smile. _"_ I need to go find everyone. If you want, I can come back later if you need to talk. _"_

"Ok, see you around. If you could, I would love to talk with you later." I said as Caleb began to run out of the room.

"Yep, see ya. It shouldn't be long before I find them so leave the door open so I can get in. _"_ Caleb replied.

A few minutes after Caleb left, Sam got out of the bathroom. I quickly got into the bathroom and took a quick shower. After I finished my evening routine, I walked down the stairs and into the living room where my dad was sitting and watching TV.

"Hey Dad." I whispered. I was scared to death, I didn't know if he was ready to talk or not. Dad picked up the remote to the TV and put it on mute.

"Hey...Katlyn. I've been waiting to talk to you for quite sometime now." He said as he set his recliner into the upright position.

"I know, I let Sam use the shower first then I used it myself." I replied.

"Katlyn, I really don't know what to make of all of this. Why didn't you call us? You used to tell us everything." he asked. His eyes were filled with disappointment.

"I was scared. I didn't know what would happen if I told you. I was afraid that you would start treating me like a little kid again. I didn't want that." I said as I held back the tears.

"Katlyn, I understand that. We will talk more about this in the morning. You should go get some sleep." Dad said soothingly.

"I think that is a good idea. Night dad, I love you."

"Night Katlyn, and I love you to. I will always love you, no matter what age you are."

 **Caleb's POV**

"Did you here what your dad and your sister were talking about earlier? _"_ Lawrence asked me as I tried to sleep.

"With these ears, how could I not? Now leave me alone, I'm trying to sleep. _"_ I replied with a soft whisper. Everyone else had fallen asleep. Sam was bunked in my room along with me, Lawrence, and Marik. Katlyn was in her room with Zan, Jack, and Basil. I was finally getting close to sleeping, when Lawrence blew away my chance like a sailing ship in a hurricane.

"What's your problem? _"_

"Aside from the fact that it is ten o'clock in the evening and you are keeping me from what little sleep I can get. _"_ I whispered through gritted teeth.

"Alright, I get the picture. There is one problem, with it. _"_

"And what would that be. _"_ I asked impatiently.

"I really don't care. You heard that they were going to continue talking in the morning, right? _"_

"Yeah? So? What's your point? Most people like to go to bed at night. They just wanted to sleep on it. _"_ I replied.

"More like your Dad and Mom wanted to talk about what happens if this shrine doesn't work. I heard your mom telling your dad about everything we learned in Celadon. Your dad said that they might have to do something drastic if it doesn't work. _"_ Lawrence said in a deep whisper.

"Like what, it's not like there is much they can do to help Katlyn. _"_ Lawrence moved in closer so that only I could hear him.

"Drastic as in moving to another region and starting over. I heard your dad say that they would need to get new paperwork for Katlyn because all of her other paperwork wouldn't cover her now that she is a kid. _"_

"Great, just great. Now what do we do? If the government catches my dad while he is trying to get forged papers, he could be sent to prison for life. _"_ I whispered back.

"You idiot, they aren't going to forge it. They are going to set up a fake adoption thing. They are going to say that they found her somewhere and took her in. That is technically not illegal as long as nobody claims that Katlyn is a runaway. Why would anyone do that anyway? _"_

"I guess you have a point. So what do you want me to do about it? _"_ I asked.

"You need to go ahead and tell your parents the truth. They need to know, as well as Katlyn. _"_ Lawrence deadpanned

"What happens if I don't tell them, will you tell them? _"_

"Nope, this is your burden. I just think that there will be a lot less heart-ache if you tell them now. _"_

"I don't think I can; not yet. _"_

"Caleb, you should... _"_

"No, not yet. Let me just go to sleep. I'm done talking about this. _"_

"Whatever, but it will come out eventually. _"_

"Lawrence, I know. I am letting Katlyn have a little more time. She may hate me and your mom later, but she needs sometime to enjoy life before it is shattered for her. Goodnight. _"_

 **Marik's POV**

The information that Lawrence and Caleb dropped was important enough for me to make a report myself. Normally, I would just record the conversations via microchip. The data could take several weeks for the people in the intelligence room to decode. If I report it myself, then it would be sent as a priority message, and could be decoded much faster. I got up and headed to the cracked door. The dim light of a nightlight was enough to make the entire hallway look like daylight. I listened carefully in order to make sure that no one was following me. When I was certain that I hadn't woken anybody, I proceeded down the stairs. I walked to the back of the house. There was a pet door set into the back door of the house, which I used to get outside. I walked silently outside. The sound of insects chirping made everything seem peaceful. The night sky was dotted with small wisps of clouds that were barely visible in the starlit sky.

"I thought that I was alone out here. I guess I was mistaken. _"_ the sound of another voice made my blood run cold. I quickly began to search for the unseen intruder and quickly discovered a large Ninetales.

"You aren't Maggie. Who are you? Why are you here? _"_ I asked nervously.

"My name is Ember. I'm Maggie's sister. As for the why, I'm just out here watching the stars. They are really beautiful this time of year. _"_

"My name is Marik. So, why are you looking at the stars? They are just a bunch of white dots. If you looked through a telescope, then they would definitely be something to look at. _"_

"Young yet knowledgeable. That is a rare combination. Let me guess, you are the Pokémon of that boy...um...Sam. Right? _"_

"Yeah, how did you know? _"_

"Katlyn, never mentioned you in her conversation today. So why are you out here? _"_

"I just thought it would be good to get some fresh air. _"_ I replied quickly.

"I see. _"_ the Ninetales looked up at the night sky. She watched it with a keen interest. _"_ I can sense that something is wrong. Is there anything I can help with? _"_

'This my chance.' I thought as I sat down and began to scratch at the place where the microchip resided. I felt it vibrate, letting me know that it was read to send a priority message.

"Nothing is wrong per say, but I am confused about something. Why is Caleb and Lawrence so secretive about that fake adoption thing for Katlyn? _"_

"Ah, you heard the conversation as well. Basically, they don't want to let Katlyn down. I couldn't believe that my sister would lie about that to Katlyn. You see, from what I have understood, is that Katlyn is in a fragile state of mind at the moment. If she found out, she could snap. Caleb doesn't want that to happen, but the only way for him to fix what my sister has done was by playing along and slowly getting Katlyn to put her hopes into something else. _"_ Ember explained

"I find it kind of silly myself. I think her parents need to calm down and think carefully about this fake adoption. I mean, it just seems like to much of a hassle. _"_

"I can see why you might think that. This whole situation is a little odd. The only thing we can do is hope that everything turns out for the best. _"_

Thinking that I got my message across to the guys in the intelligence department, I turned off the chip's priority sender and turned around.

"Thanks for helping me understand. I think I am going to head back to bed now. _"_

"Goodnight, it was a pleasure to meet you Marik. _"_

"It was nice to meet you to. _"_ I walked back to Sam's room.

 **Charles' POV**

Daylight had come before I even realized it. I slept in the loft of an old barn near the target's house since it was close. This first thing I did when I was completely awake, was check the bugs wirelessly to see if they were still operating. Once that was done I quietly climbed down the loft ladder and headed for the door. Just as I was opening a small regular door, the main doors opened.

"Alright, who's in here. There is no use running and hiding, I can hear ya breathing." I froze where I was. I couldn't be caught because it could blow the entire operation. I couldn't shoot whoever it was for the same reason. My hesitation got me caught.

"What are you doing in my barn, boy?" an old farmer asked as he eyed me.

"I just wanted a warm place to sleep, sir. I'm sorry, I will be on my way now." I said politely.

"Wait just a minute, I am sorry that I was so rude. Why don't you come inside and have breakfast with me and my wife. I'm not the type to send off a traveler without him being fed." the old farmer offered.

"No, I couldn't impose. I should really just be on my way."

"It would be no imposition. Besides, if you feel that bad about it, you could help me get some things done here around the farm as payment. I thought about for a couple of seconds. Then decided that this would be a good way to take a real break from the assignment.

"Thank you sir, I would be happy to join you." I said politely. 'I just hope that nothing important happens when I am gone.' I thought to myself. The farmer motioned for me to follow him.

 **Sam's POV**

To say that I was excited this morning is an understatement. I was finally going to be my normal self after nearly a week of being a three year old. Maggie had gotten us all up fairly early so that she would have some time to rest afterwards.

"Before Maggie does anything, I want to take a few pictures." Mrs. Ward said.

"Can't it wait until after I'm changed back?" I asked. "No, because I want to compare what you look like now to what you look like when you are older. Besides, I know your parent's. Your mother and I went to college together. I am pretty sure that your mom would like to know if something like this happens to you, after I had moved here from Hoenn. I'm sure Becky would love to now what has happened to her baby boy." Mrs. Ward laughed as my jaw dropped.

"Please don't tell her. She would flip!" I shouted.

"Don't worry, I am only pulling your leg. Besides, I already have a picture of you and Katlyn." Mrs. Ward chuckled.

" _Ok Sam, you will need to hold very still for me. Just stay right there."_ Maggie instructed. I did exactly as I was told. A warmth flowed over me as everything turned a glowing light blue. I felt like I was on an elevator rising into the air, but without leaving the ground. Within seconds, the light faded and I was standing as my older self once again. For the first time that entire week, my clothes fitted the way they should.

"It feels good to be back." I whispered to myself.

"Now that we have that out of the way. Lets get something to eat." Mrs. Ward said as she headed into the kitchen. About ten minutes later we had eggs, bacon, and toast sitting in front of us.

"Where is Dad? He said that we would talk some more this morning." Katlyn asked as she took a bite of her toast.

"He was called away earlier this morning. He said something about the champion had some new ideas for the Pokémon league tournament. Since your father is the head referee, he had to review the ideas before the tournament." Mrs. Ward replied.

"Oh, do you think we can go by the contest hall today. I was wanting to see if I could sign up for one."

"I don't see why not. When is it?"

"Tomorrow, it starts at ten-thirty." Katlyn replied.

"We can head over there. Sam, do you want to come?" Mrs. Ward asked as she took a sip from her cup

"I think I'm going to stay here and train for a bit. I need to get ready for my battle at the gym. I heard off of the T.V. that Sabrina has been in a bad mood and every trainer that has gone in there has come out with their Pokémon so confused that they couldn't tell the difference between a marshmallow and a Mac truck." I said.

"Alright, just be sure to lock the door when you go outside. I'm sure that I can trust you with this." Mrs. Ward tossed a silver key to me which I easily caught.

"There is a pretty good training spot in the back. It's set up with some targets and other equipment." Katlyn added.

"Thanks, I guess I will see y'all later." I said as I quickly finished my breakfast. Katlyn also finished eating and she and her mother left.

The place Katlyn mentioned was pretty easy to find. She was right when she said that it was a good training area. There was everything anyone could imagine training with. I really didn't know where to start. Well, that's not true. I had to let Marik out first.

"Ok so first off, we need to work on some plans for fighting psychic types Marik. Any ideas?" The little cat shook his head in response then gave me a look that seemed to say that I was the one that was supposed to have ideas. "A lot of help you are." I muttered. I then sat down next to the Luxio and began to think.

 **Katlyn's POV**

The contest hall wasn't exactly what I expected. I figured that there would be flashing lights, people in fancy clothes, and dressed up Pokémon. I didn't see anything like that. The lobby looked somewhat like an office building. There was a long desk that stretched about halfway across the room. It had several long lines that filled with ordinary people. I am sure that if anyone else were looking at me, they would assume that I was just another little girl waiting in line for her mother to sign up for the contest. I wasn't afraid to admit it, but I was feeling this weird sense like I was supposed to be like this. I can't describe how I felt without using a lot of large words. The best way to describe it would be that it felt like something bad would have happened even if I didn't switch ages like this. I guess I felt content, not happy, but content. The line we had picked was slowly moving, but it felt as though it I was standing still. After what seemed like an eternity, we finally made it up front.

"How may I help you?" a man said as he began to sift through the layers of entree slips.

"I would like sign my daughter up for the contest tomorrow." Mom said as she began to dig through her purse for her ID.

"Ma'am the contest is only for the ages ten and above. We follow the same guidelines as the Pokémon League." The man replied after he took a good long look at me.

"Thought you might say that. Katlyn, hand me your permit please." Mom said as she held out her hand. After the incident with the CPS, Sam gave me my copy of the trainers permit so we wouldn't run into anymore trouble. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. I handed it to Mom who then handed it to the man behind the counter. The man studied it for several minutes before handing it back to my mom.

"You are the second ones to have one of these. The other two were both kids. One was about eleven, the other was about your daughter's age. I guess you both know that these are not the easiest things to get a hold of." the man said as he scanned the certificate.

"That is a surprise. I heard that there were only a select few who could qualify for the permit." Mom replied slightly surprised

"Yeah, when we announce the contestants tomorrow, you will be able to pick her out fairly easily. You are all set here. This card here will allow you to participate in any contest you decide to enter. Your numbering will be decided tomorrow, and you must be here at ten o'clock in the morning for preparations. The first part of the contest will be the standard style round. The second part is the battle round. You will have to first pass the style round in order to proceed to battle round." The man then leaned in and whispered. "If you want my advice, don't worry about how pretty your moves are as much as how effective they are in battle. True beauty is only found in the synchronous of how well two moves interact with each other." It sounded weird that a guy would be giving me advice on how to win a contest, but it did make sense.

"Thank you for the advice. Have a good day." Mom said politely as we turned to walk away. The man waved as we left and a whole new feeling of excitement began to bubble up inside me.

 **Sam's POV**

"Do it again Marik!" I yelled as the Luxio ran at the target. He lunged at the target and bit down hard on the target. He shattered the wood target with amazing force. "Good job. Now we need to think of a plan for you to get in close. We need to direct her Pokémon towards you, but we need to make it look as if she is making the decisions. We also need to find a way to keep our moves and strategies concealed." I sat down on the grass to think. Marik sat down beside me. "I know, we can ask Maggie. Surely, she knows how to fight a psychic type. Come on Marik, let's go find her!"

" _If you only use Marik, you have about a five percent chance of winning. Sabrina is a psychic, a very powerful one. It took Caleb and Lawrence five tries before he managed to knock out Sabrina's Kadabra. The only reason they even succeeded was because Lawrence could learn several dark type moves. No offense Marik, but you are is somewhat lacking in the field of dark type moves. He can learn maybe two, tops."_ Maggie said after I asked my question. _"You can always try to win, but you will need one heck of a strategy. I suggest, borrowing one of Katlyn's Pokémon. Specifically Zan. He has the most battle experience."_

"No, this is me and Marik's challenge.

We need to do this ourselves." I replied slightly discouraged.

" _Here is a small tip, there is a man who lives down the road. He lives three houses down from here on the right side of the road. He used to be a huge Pokémon trainer when he was around Caleb's age. If you ask him, he may give you some help. He is the only one I know who has ever beaten Sabrina on his first try."_

"Thanks Maggie, I'll go check it out." I replied slightly more enthusiastic.

" _No problem, just be careful. He doesn't care much for young people going onto his farm."_ Maggie said. I nodded as me and Marik took off toward the street.

* * *

As usual, I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter. If you have anything to say, you know what to do. If you like the story, be sure that you hit that favorite/follow button. This is shieldliger001 signing off.


	27. Chapter 27

Hello everyone, shield here. I am sorry that this chapter came out so late. I had a busy week at school this week since this is the third week of the second six weeks. That means all of my teachers are rushing to put extra grades into the grade book. Anyway, on with the reviews.

Monpoke: I admit that I know more about unhappiness then I do about happiness. I am the oldest of seven kids, two of which have Autism. I have been bullied at school and at church for having Aspergers (though I didn't know it at the time). I have even been described as being naturally unhappy. I have learned that, though I don't show it very well, I am happy. My happiness is strange. It is hard to really explain, but basically, my definition of happiness is neutrality if that makes sense. Nothing good is happening, but nothing bad is happening either. That is the main reason I feel like I am better at the sad parts. My definition of sadness is somewhat the same as everyone else. I have experienced sadness on so many different levels, most of which I won't even mention. Between being bullied and finding out that my two siblings my never be able to live on their on saddens me greatly, but I won't let my Aspergers or the bullies or the sadness over my family stand in the way of what I love doing. I love to write so that makes me happy.

Philip Harbindinger: Here is the long anticipated chapter. Hope you enjoy.

Caitou zzzzzz: the one thing I really wanted to show is that family can definitely be a problem when you are in Caleb's situation. They will sometimes over-react like Caleb's parents or they will somewhat under-react like Evan's parents from Two Brothers. As for the Mew, I have something special planned for that. I won't give any hints, but I think that it will be great.

Guest: I looked at the first paragraph in chapter 25, but just couldn't decide what to do with that particular scene, so they got into a car and talked.

* * *

 **Take chances, make mistakes. That's how you grow. Pain nourishes your courage. You have to fail in order to practice being brave.**

 **Mary Tyler Moore**

* * *

 **Chapter 27**

 **Sam's POV**

"Third house down, she said. Can't miss it, she said. Then why have I been walking for two hours?" I asked myself angrily as continued to walk down the road. "You know what Marik? I give up! I can even find the place!" I yelled as the frustration got the best of me. Marik looked at me with a disappointed look. I'm not sure if he was disappointed in me or if he was disappointed in the fact that we didn't find the guy we were looking for, but at the moment I really didn't care. "We better head back. I think that we would should just practice some more and hope for the best." I sighed. Marik nodded and we headed back.

We walked about half an hour in total silences. The air was so still that it seemed as if everything was frozen in place. The sunlight, the only thing that showed that time didn't stop, was making larger shadows by now as it was now in the early afternoon.

'Something doesn't feel right. It's to quiet.' I thought as we walked. Marik must have felt the same way because he began to growl.

"Scatter, Kashikoi." a calm quiet voice said. Suddenly a blur zipped by and slammed into Marik. Marik cried out as he flew several feet backwards on the pavement. He quickly got back up into a fighting pose and waited. I didn't see the figure or the Pokémon that had attacked, but that was only a minor obstacle.

"Marik get ready to move!" I yelled. "Who's there? Why are you attacking us?"

"I believed that you would understand quickly. I guess I was wrong about you Samyueru Mattlov." a voice replied.

"My name is Samuel, not whatever you just said. Again, what do you want?"

"I am just a nobody. I was told that you were in need of my assistance for a coming battle. I must have been mistaken. You are not yet ready to defeat anyone with power like Saburina. You, Samyueru, are to weak."

"Who told you that I was fighting Sabrina? I didn't tell anyone aside from the Ward family and Maggie."

"Maggie, the Byoto family's Kyukon, asked me for my assistance. Now, I see why."

"Show yourself! You coward!" I yelled.

"Only if your Luxio can catch Kashikoi." The voice said calmly. "Scatter once again, Kashikoi." Once again, the blur passed me. It was heading straight towards Marik.

"Marik! Use discharge!" I yelled. Marik surrounded himself with bright yellow electricity. The blur didn't didn't even slow down. In fact, it sped up. Before Marik even had a chance to release all of his electricity, he was slammed into the ground. The blur quickly disappeared again. The electricity he had gathered dispersed in uneven waves of heat and light. Marik jumped back to his feet with surprising vigor. Marik looked at me expectantly.

 **Marik's POV**

Whatever it was that was attacking me, it was fast. A lot faster then I thought possible. Every time it attacked, I scarcely saw more then a sliver of movement. The mysterious voice called out the same phrase.

"Scatter, Kashikoi." I waited for the attack to come. The air was filled with so much anticipation that it would have been felt a mile away. The wind rustled the leaves and wild Pokémon broke twigs as we waited for some kind of movement from the unseen enemy. Finally a blur emerged from the foliage.

"Marik, use flash!" Sam shouted. The move was almost instantaneous. For a moment, I was brighter then the sun as light chased away the shadows. Once the light had diminished back to normal levels, the shape of the assailant had finally become clear. The green and white body. The red crest. The bladed arms that could cut through grown trees. All made the Gallade a distinct opponent.

"Very good Samyueru. You have done good to find Kashikoi. As I have said before, you are not strong enough to take on Saburina. Train with me, and I will show you the secrets to defeating an individual such as Saburina." Out of the darkness, on old man appeared. Sam took a step back and studied the old man. I decided that it would be best if I did the same thing. The old man was tall. He was maybe in his late seventies, maybe early eighties. Despite, talking like an old sage, he was not dressed the part. He wore an old black suit that made him look like death itself. His eyes were sunk into his skull, which, you you didn't look closely, made him look like a skin covered skull. In spite of his chilling appeareance, the man gave off a peaceful aura. His presence just didn't give off any evil feelings. "You are wary for someone so young. Most trainers your age would be reckless. Many have come to me. Many wanted me to train them, but I sent them all away. You are different. I sense strength inside you. If you will allow me, I will teach you how to defeat Saburina."

"What's the catch? You aren't just doing this out of the kindness of your heart, are you?" Sam asked suspiciously.

"I am doing this because I see potential in you. To enter the League, you must obtain eight gym badges. There are many gyms across this region where you can obtain them. Only one out of ten trainers will challenge and defeat Saburina. Only one percent of those trainers will defeat her on their first try. I am the first to accomplish that achievement."

"If I agree, I will be watching you." Sam said.

"I would not want it any other way Samyueru." the old man replied with a smile.

 **Katlyn's POV**

"What are we doing now?" I asked as we got into the car.

"We are going to head home and get which ever Pokémon you are going to use for the contest tomorrow. Then we need to get you a few things for the contest. You can't just go in your t-shirt and jeans. You have to be presentable."

"I guess that's true." I replied.

"Have you decided who you want to participate?" Mom asked.

"I was thinking about Jack for sure. Then I guess the next would have to be Caleb." I replied.

"Just because Caleb isn't himself right now, doesn't mean that he has to do what you tell him. He is still your brother." Mom said disapprovingly.

"I really don't have anyone else. Lawrence made it clear that he didn't want to be in a contest. Zan said that he couldn't do it because of his appearance and Basil is being his intimidating self."

"Katlyn, being a trainer involves two things: friendship and leadership. You can't always have a democracy. There were times when I needed to do something, that Maggie disapproved of, but she did them because she knew that I was looking out for her. You need to do the same with your Pokémon." Mom said as we pulled out of the parking lot.

"Ok, Mom. I'll try." I muttered.

 **Caleb's POV**

" _Good job Caleb. Maggie, you were a lot more effective then I was at teaching him how to use his flames."_ Zan complemented as I finished shooting some small Ember attacks at one of the targets in our backyard.

"I had to teach my son the same thing so it was pretty simple." Maggie responded.

"When will I learn some stronger fire attacks? _"_ I asked excitedly.

" _When you are older and have more experience."_ Zan said. _"For now, you need to practice the moves you do know."_

"I know that you want to get stronger and fight Mew, but you have to mature a little before you can fight. You may think that you are old enough to learn more powerful moves now, but your flame isn't big enough yet. You have plenty of time, so don't rush yourself. _"_

"I know," I sighed sadly. _"_ I just. I don't know. I just feel helpless.

" _We realize that, but you won't get anywhere if you try to rush things. Trust me, you will get stronger. You just need to take it one day at a time."_ Zan encouraged.

"Thanks guys. Where is Lawrence and Jack? _"_ I asked more cheerfully.

" _Lawrence wanted to show Jack something. He didn't say where or when he is coming back."_ Zan said.

"Oh, ok. Can we head back to the house? _"_ I asked.

"I guess that's fine. You did really well in your lesson today. _"_ Maggie agreed.

"Ok, well I guess, I am heading out then. See ya later. _"_ I said as I ran back to the house.

Upon entering the house, the phone began to ring. I normally would have gotten it, but my form was restricting me from doing so. Soon the phone went to voice mail.

"This is an important message for Katlyn Ward. Due to a major water main break in the basement of the Saffron contest hall, tomorrow's event has been canceled. All contestants will be sent to the Jackson contest hall for the contest on Wednesday, October 21, 2015. If you can not attend the contest please call this number." the mechanical voice informed.

 _'_ Katlyn, isn't going to be to thrilled. At least it gets her a few days to practice before we head out that way. _'_ I thought as I walked back to my room.

 **Lawrence POV**

"So what do you think, Jack? _"_ I asked as we watched Marik and Sam train. Earlier I overheard my mom talking to one of her old friends. They were talking about Sam's fight in a day or two. Her friend agreed to showing Sam some tricks. It turned out that a few tricks turned into an entire training routine.

"I think that if this keeps going on that Sam and Marik are going to be beating their heads against the wall. They have been staring at those spoons for nearly three hours." Jack laughed.

"I know right? It doesn't help that the old dude is over there snickering. How do they not hear that? _"_

"I don't know...wait... that old dude is getting up. _"_ Jack whispered.

"Ok, Samyueru. You may stop your concentration." the old man said.

"Phew, that's good. I was concentrating but I didn't do a single thing. So what was that supposed to do?" Sam sighed as he wiped his brow.

"The point was that there was no point. I was just pulling your leg." the man laughed. Sam turned red but quickly went back to normal. Marik on the other hand was beginning to crackle with electricity.

"Marik, don't do it. It's not worth it." Sam ordered. Marik protested, but ultimately released the electricity harmlessly into the ground.

"Very good Samyueru. You have passed your first test."

"Um, what?" Sam asked in bewilderment.

"Yeah, what? _"_ Marik repeated.

"The whole point was to see how you would react to situations that would cause extreme irritation. You passed. Now I will teach you some methods for defeating Saburina.

"Perhaps, Maggie's son and his friend can join us Master. _"_ a new voice said. Jack and I looked behind us with wide eyes. There stood a five-foot-tall Gallade.

"Good idea, Kashikoi. Come on out you two. There is no need to be shy."

"I guess we can't just leave? _"_ I asked anxiously. The Gallade shook his head.

"I should have known. _"_ I muttered. Jack and I slowly emerged from our hiding place.

 **Katlyn's POV**

"Caleb! Where are you?" I yelled as I walked through the front door. The house was dead silent, not even the clock on the wall made a sound. I walked over to the stairs and made my way up. I looked in my room and found that it was void of life. I then headed over to Caleb room. The door was opened just a crack, so I pushed it open. Caleb was lying on the bed, sleeping. "Caleb, wake up. We need to go." I said as I shook him awake.

"I hear you. I just wanted to sleep for a couple of minutes. _"_ he moaned as he stretched. _"_ Where are we going, anyways? _"_

"We are going to get some things for the contest tomorrow." I said impatiently.

"Oh, that reminds me. The contest hall left a message saying that the contest has been canceled and that all of the contestants are to head to the Jackson contest hall on October 21. _"_ Caleb yawned.

"Why? I just got signed up for it! Now I can't go!" I said angrily.

"Katlyn, it's in Jackson. That is like ten minutes from here. It's no big deal. _"_ Caleb said in exasperation.

"Oh yeah. I guess...I guess I forgot." Katlyn seemed startled, but she quickly recovered. "Well, come on. Mom is waiting in the car."

"What about everyone else? Are you just going to leave them here? _"_

"No, we also need to find Jack. He is going to help us with the contest."

"Wait, us? What 'us'? I didn't sign up for the contest. _"_ I protested.

"You and Jack are going to be in the contest together." Katlyn replied.

"Um, let me think. No! I am not going to go into a contest. _"_ I barely yelled.

"You were the one that wanted me to do this. Now you won't even support me? Some brother you are. You want me to do something that you wouldn't do yourself. That is flat out cruel!" Katlyn yelled. She then stormed out of the room.

"Katlyn! Come on, don't be like that! Katlyn! _"_ I called. _"_ Why does this have to happen to me? Katlyn! _"_

"Stop following me! After all the things I have done to help you, you can't do one thing for me!"

"It's not that I don't want to help you, but I am a trainer, not a coordinator. _"_ I explained.

"Right now, you are a jerk!" Katlyn shouted. She continued to run until she had reached the front door. She threw it open and ran outside. I continued to chase after her.

"Katlyn! I'll do it! Just stop running away! _"_ As soon as I said this, I instantly regretted it. Katlyn turned around and looked at me with a gleam in her eyes.

"Thanks Caleb. I knew you would help me." she smiled.

"Um, you're welcome? _"_ I replied, not sure how to respond.

"Come on, let's go find Jack." Katlyn said happily. She eagerly ran off in search of the Pichu.

"What just happened? _"_ I asked myself. I was about to leave when I heard snickering from behind me.

"She threw you for a loop. _"_ I turned around to find both Maggie and Zan standing behind me.

" _I must admit that she has turned manipulation into an art form."_ Zan laughed.

"You mean she faked being upset? _"_ I asked incredulously.

" _That's what we mean. She played you for a fool, and you fell for every word of it."_

"Don't feel to bad. I think even Zan would have fallen for that one. _"_ Maggie added with a snicker.

" _Yep, you are right about that one."_ Zan grinned. I could only stare in disbelief at Maggie and Zan. Katlyn had completely pulled the wool over my eyes.

 **Sam's POV**

The old man watched us for quite sometime as we practiced the exercises we were told to do. We mostly just battled Jack and Lawrence. After a while, the old man switched up the strategy. He told Jack to use whatever attack he wanted while Lawrence could only use psychic attacks to restrain Marik. This wasn't to bad since Lawrence only knew a single psychic type move. The problem was that we had to dodge electric type moves, while Marik was being restrained by the psychic move. We had to be strong enough both mentally and physically in order to get free, and so far, it isn't looking good. Every time I gave a command, Marik would try to obey it. Lawrence would always prevent him from completing his task.

'There has to be a way to break out of this! If a weak attack like that can incapacitate Marik, just think of what Sabrina will do!' I thought. Then something dawned on me. Psychic types are generally terrible at close range combat. They like to stay far away from their targets so they can concentrate on their attacks and defense. I noticed that whenever a psychic move is launched, the user's eyes are always open. There was one move that would be able to counter a psychic attack.

"Marik! Use flash!" I yelled. Jack launched a Thundershock at Marik. The bolt hit but caused little to no damage. Marik began to shine brightly. It got so bright, that I had to cover my own eyes. When I looked back at the battle scene, Marik was standing on the ground with Jack and Lawrence rubbing their eyes with their paws. The lone, hollow clap signified that I had impressed the old man.

"You did well Samyueru, but that is not what I was hoping for you to accomplish. I wanted you to break away from the attack without using a move. I will say that you did a job discerning your opponent's weakness. If you keep up with your ingenuity, you will be able to defeat Saburina." he said as he stood up.

"Does that mean I am ready to take on Sabrina now?" I asked eagerly.

"No, you are not. These two were a mere appetizer compared to your next opponent. Kashikoi, you know what to do. Samyueru, if you can land five hits on Kashikoi, you will be ready to take on Saburina." he said. The Gallade next to the old man nodded then took a step forward in our direction. "Begin." The Gallade disappeared before my very eyes. I scanned the entire area for any trace of the walking blender, but couldn't see a thing. I couldn't hear a leaf tremble because of abrupt movement, nor did I feel the air moving because of an unseen disturbance.

"Marik, get ready. I don't know where this guy is, but I feel like he is about to attack." I whispered to the Luxio. He crouched down and waited. Before either of us could even blink, the Gallade had struck. It suddenly appeared in front of Marik with its left arm raised. He slammed it down on Marik's back without even flinching. Marik collapsed on the ground with a bitter scream of pain. The Gallade jumped away and disappeared in a sudden burst of speed. Marik got up and shook himself off. He had an almost eerie gleam in his eyes as he searched for his elusive opponent.

 **Marik's POV**

'I will find him. I must find him. I must complete my goal! My family is waiting! I won't have some walking lawn mower beat me!' I thought wildly is I searched for the Gallade.

" _Search with your mind, not with your eyes Luxio. Only then, will you find me."_ the Gallade said in my mind.

'Get out of my head! I don't need your advice on how to fight!' I yelled quietly inside my mind.

" _I tried to help you. I know, this should be a good motivator Joshua Marik."_ the Gallade said.

'How do you know that name? I haven't told anyone about that name.' I asked curtly.

" _I know it because you know it. Here is the deal, for ever attack I use and successfully hit, I will unlock one of your secrets. We all have secrets we want to keep hidden. If you want to keep yours hidden, then you had better find me and dodge my attacks."_ the Gallade said in all seriousness.

'You can't do that! You can't just look inside my head!' I mentally shouted.

" _You are the only one who can stop it from happening."_ the Gallade replied simply. _"Prepare for my next attack."_ I quickly began to panic. The attack was coming and yet I could not know where it would come from. I began to hyperventilate as time slowed to a crawl. Suddenly, I couldn't even hyperventilate. The air had been knocked completely out of my lungs as I flew through the air in an upwards arc. I struggled to get air back inside my lungs only to have it knocked out of me when I hit the ground. _"Interesting, you weren't always a Luxio."_

'You are right. I was a Shinx first.' I thought angrily.

" _You and both know that is not what I mean. You were once human. Huh, I can't seem to reach those memories surrounding your humanity. No matter. After the next attack, you will be to weak to even fight."_ the Gallade said smugly. _"Here I come, this is your last chance to stop me from releasing all of your secrets."_ I jumped to my feet and growled in anticipation. I was concentrating so hard that the rest of the world seemed to disappear. I felt like I was on a white plane that extended into nothingness in every direction. There was no sound, no wind, and no smells. There was only sight and touch. Neither of those were proving very useful. Then I noticed something. I could feel sensation, as if it was some sort of sixth sense. I could feel that I was not alone. The heat of another burning soul made me feel warm. The presence closed in on me and as if on instinct alone I jumped high into the air. When I did, everything returned to normal. The sky sat above me and the ground lay below me. On the ground with his arm blade wedged deep into the earth, was the Gallade. A look of surprise had found its way on the fighter's face. I smirked as Sam called for me to use a Thunder Fang attack. I closed in on the surprised Gallade with open, electrified jaws. I bit down hard on the Gallade's wedged arm. He screeched in pain as he tried to fling me off.

"Marik! Use Discharge!" Sam yelled.

"You are in for a world of hurt! _"_ I yelled as I filled the air with electricity. Since the Gallade was so close, there was no way it didn't get hit. After the Discharge, I let go of the Gallade's arm and it fell to one knee. I then jumped back for another round of attacks

"Marik, use quick attack then Thunderbolt!" I took off running as fast as I could at the Gallade. I reached the barrier that stood between a tackle and a quick attack and smashed through it as if it were a window. White light covered me as I slammed into the Gallade's wounded arm. He tried to counter with a quick leaf blade, but I had already gotten out of range. I shot my Thunderbolt in return and struck the Gallade in the side. The Gallade let out a shriek of rage and agony. He suddenly, became quiet and still. He calmly stood up and looked at me, and got into a fighting stance.

"Marik, use Quick attack one more time!" I had already began to move and was about to hit when the Gallade had disappeared from view.

"This trick won't work again! _"_ I yelled into the air.

" _Who said that this is the same trick! Good riddance little human."_ I concentrated again, and found myself in the same white, empty plane I was in before. I felt the soul of the Gallade, but it was not moving. Then I realized that he was directly above me. I felt him release a large amount of energy. That energy was heading straight towards me. I barely had any time to jump out of the way before the Psycho Cut sliced a large gash into the ground. Before I could recover, another Psycho Cut came down like fiery rain from above. It barely grazed me, taking off a few hairs on my left side. The Gallade launched a third Psycho Cut, but this time I was ready. I jumped to my right allowing the Psycho Cut to pass right by.

"Marik, use Thunderbolt!" I charged up the attack and released it without hesitation. It soared into the air and slammed into the Gallade. When the attack was over. The Gallade looked down at with a smile.

" _You did well for a human. You and your trainer both."_

"That was tough. Those were some of my strongest moves and you don't even sound tired. _"_ I replied in awe.

"Ha ha, I have lived for a long time. I have battled Pokémon that are even stronger than I am. In time, you will reach that level of strength, but it will only happen if you have a strong bound with your trainer. I must go. My Master's work is done here. _"_ he said as he walked back to the old man's side. _"_ One more thing, you never had a real chance to defeat me. If you were evolved, then you may have been strong enough to push me to my transcended form. I wish you farewell and have a good journey. _"_

'What does your name mean?' I don't know why I asked, but I felt compelled to do so.

"It depends on who you ask. To most it is just a word giving a designation. To others it is an exaggeration. Kashikoi means 'wise one'. I don't know how fitting that name is for me, but my master believes I am worthy of such a name. Good bye, Joshua Marik. _"_

"Goodbye Kashikoi. Will I see you again? _"_

"It all depends on you and me. The decisions you and I make will decide if we will see each other again. _"_ Kashikoi walked over to his master and placed his bladed arm on the man's shoulder.

"Samyueru, you have much to learn about this world, and the evils and kindness that are in it. What I have taught you will help you on the road to come. Today you accomplished what most trainers have never been able to do. You and Marik have landed five hits on Kashikoi, albeit three of them were because you where in the right place at the right time. Remember this, the one thing that will get you through your battles, win or lose, is that you have friends and family to get you through the challenges ahead. Farewell, Samyueru." With that the old man and Kashikoi disappeared in a flash of light.

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I hope that y'all enjoyed this chapter. I personally liked writing this one. If you were wondering Samyueru is Japanese for Samuel and Saburina is Japanese for Sabrina. If you have anything to say, you know what to do. If you are enjoying this story, be sure to smash that favorite/follow button. This is shieldliger001, signing off.


	28. Chapter 28

Hey everyone, shield here. I'm sorry that it took so long for this chapter to come out. I have been having a lot of homework lately which has been slowing me down a little. Anyways, happy late Halloween and enjoy the chapter. I would like to thank everyone that has followed and favorited my story and I would like to give a special thanks to everyone who has commented and reviewed the story. Y'all are the best. On to the reviews.

Monpoke: it is nice to know that there is others who are trying their best no matter what others say. Keep up the good work and thanks for all of the support.

Phillip Harbindinger: I thought that it would be good to show my appreciation to the Japanese for their creativity. The have brought to me some of my favorite shows of all times.

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 **A dream doesn't become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination, and hard work.**

 **Colin Powell**

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 **Chapter 28**

 **Katlyn's POV**

I pretty much gave up searching for Jack. After wandering around for what felt like forever, I decided to head back to the house and wait for him to show up. After another hour of waiting, Mom was about ready to explode and there was still no sign of Jack. We all decided to wait for them on the front porch so we could leave as soon as Jack arrives.

"Katlyn, you should always know where your Pokémon are. If you don't, something bad can happen." Mom lectured. I nodded and let my mind drift about what I was going to do in the contest. Caleb sat beside me on the steps of the porch and chuckled.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"I just find it funny how you have changed throughout this adventure. _"_ he said with a smile. _"_ You have gone from being an annoying college student who hated Pokémon trainers, to a sister who finally understands that it's not all about battling. _"_

"I guess you're right. Don't get me wrong, I still don't like the idea of two creatures beating each other to a pulp, but I understand now that training is just a way to get close with Pokémon." I replied solemnly.

"Yep, and don't you forget it. Wait, I think I hear something coming. _"_ Caleb said as he focused on listening. A few minutes later, Sam, Marik, Lawrence, and Jack stumbled out of the bushes.

"Where were you guys? We have been looking all over for you!" I said.

"We were training for the gym battle. Why?"

"Because, I needed to find Jack and nobody knew where he was. We are going to get some things for the contest and I need Jack to come with me." I explained.

"Oh ok. Jack, my condolences. See y'all later." Sam said as he walked back to the house.

"He really drives me nuts sometimes." I grumbled as he disappeared through the front door.

"Gee, this seems familiar. Oh yeah, you used to do it to me whenever I wanted to do something. _"_ Caleb said sarcastically.

"I never did that!" I defended.

"Honey, you and Caleb have never gotten along. Every time he got an award, or even when he graduated, you had pretended like you didn't care or you were sarcastic." Mom agreed. Mom had just blown away my entire argument away.

"Maybe I did do some of those things." I admitted.

"Some? More like all. _"_ Caleb said harshly.

"Look, I'm sorry. I didn't realize that I did any of that." I apologized.

"It's ok. You just aggravate me sometimes when you start talking about things like that. _"_ Caleb sighed.

"Ok everyone, let's get going. I want to get back sometime before midnight." Mom said.

"Ok, we're coming." I replied.

 **Caleb's POV**

"Mom, why do I have to sit through this? It's bad enough that Katlyn looped me into this, but why do I have watch Katlyn pick out clothes? _"_ I whined as Mom sent Katlyn back with another pair of clothes to try on.

"I'm having a hard time understanding this myself. _"_ Jack agreed.

"If you two have a daughter, then you will understand." Mom replied.

"I probably won't. She will be wearing yellow her whole life. _"_ Jack muttered sadly.

"I will be right there with you at this rate. _"_ I concurred. Mom looked at Jack in embarrassment, but Jack began to smile at her in order to make her feel better.

"Anyways, after Katlyn is done, she is going to get somethings for you two."

"What? _"_ I asked curiously.

"I can't tell you that, or it will ruin the surprise." Mom smiled secretively.

"You aren't any fun. _"_ I pouted. Mom only chuckled.

After a few hours of waiting for Katlyn to pick out her clothing, we walked to the Pokémon department. It is sad to think that only months ago, I was going here only to get things for Lawrence. By now I had gotten used to the idea that I may not be able to return to my human self, though I still hoped that I would be able to go back. We stopped in front of a rack that held all sorts of contest related items. Katlyn knelt down to look at the bottom shelf and quickly spied the object that she was looking for.

"Caleb, I saw this and it made me think of you." she grinned sadly. I looked at it with a mixture of happiness and sorrow. It was a necklace modeled after the yin and yang cycle with an everstone and a fire stone chasing after each other in an infinite loop.

"Thanks Katlyn. You don't have to do this. _"_ I said as I tried to smile back.

"It's just a little something I thought you would like." Katlyn said. "Don't worry Jack. I found something for you as well. It's on the next aisle." Katlyn and mom walked ahead of us as if they had to guide us everywhere. We finally stopped in front of a section for small Pokémon. I noticed that there was another girl about Katlyn's age, standing nearby. Katlyn bent down and picked up a blue bandana. She was about to tie it around Jack's neck when the girl standing nearby ripped it from Katlyn's hand. Of course Mom was screwing around on her phone, so she didn't see anything until after the shouting started.

"Hey! I was going to get that!" Katlyn yelled as she tried desperately tried to yank the bandana back. The girl, who was slightly taller, kept the bandana just outside Katlyn's reach.

"No, I saw it first!" the girl yelled.

"I had it in my hand, and you just took it from me!" Katlyn countered.

"Katlyn Ward! You need stop fighting this instant!" Mom said in a raised voice.

"Mom! She just ripped it out of my hand!" Katlyn moaned loudly.

"Just find another bandana. Be the bigger person." Mom lectured.

"That sounds like good advice. Emily, give her the bandana." a boy said.

"Austin, I wanted the blue one!" the girl named Emily complained. The boy was a little taller than Sam and had a younger boy standing behind him. The younger boy was about five while the older boy seemed to be about eleven or twelve.

"That doesn't mean you take it from somebody else. Now apologize."

"Sorry." the girl muttered. It was barely audible even for me.

"Louder." the boy named Austin said sternly.

"Fine, I'm sorry." the girl pouted. The older boy turned back to us and grinned.

"I'm sorry about that, Emily tends to be somewhat of a brat sometimes, especially after she heard that the contest had been scheduled someplace else. She has been waiting to participate for weeks. Oh, I should introduce myself. I'm Austin Lee. This is my brother Devin, and you both already met Emily." Austin said cheerfully.

"I'm Katlyn Ward, this is my mom and that is Caleb and Jack sitting there." Katlyn pointed to all of us as she said our names. I'm not sure, but I could have sworn that I saw a hint of recognition in the boy's eyes as Katlyn finished her introduction.

"It's nice to meet you all." Austin replied.

"So she is the other underage coordinator?" Katlyn asked curiously.

"Yep, and I am going to beat everyone as soon as the contest starts." Emily said enthusiastically.

"You know, I am pretty sure that I have a good shot at the winning." Katlyn retorted. Emily glared at Katlyn for a few minutes but then looked away.

"It was nice meeting you, I guess we will be seeing you in two days." Austin said. Then Emily, Devin, and Austin left.

"He was nice." Mom said approvingly.

"Didn't any of you get the feeling that something was off about those three? _"_ I asked.

"It did seem a little odd that they would be traveling with a little kid with them. He couldn't have been more than six. Well, then again, some would say that Katlyn isn't old enough to travel either. _"_ Jack said.

"Hey, I'm twenty years old!" Katlyn exclaimed.

"To us you are, but like we keep telling you, to everyone else, you are just a kid." Mom reminded for umpteenth time.

"Thanks for reminding me." Katlyn muttered. "Can we go home now?"

"Sure, let's just get everything paid for."

 **Sam's POV**

"Ugh, there isn't anything to watch." I complained as I turned off the TV and lightly tossed it onto a chair in the corner of Caleb's room. Marik looked up at me in agreement. "We could always train some more, but I just don't feel like doing any more of that at the moment." Marik yawned, showing me that he wasn't very interested. "Well, if you aren't going to do anything, then I'm going to go outside." Marik just closed his eyes and went to sleep. Got up and went outside.

There was about as much to do outside as there was inside. I ended up walking around for a while until I finally heard a car pull up.

"It's about time you guys get back. After we finished training, we couldn't find anything to do. Did you get everything you need for the contest?" I asked as Katlyn climbed out of the car.

"Yeah, and we ran into one of the other coordinators. She is about eight, and she has the same permit that I have." Katlyn said. Katlyn paused then added. "She is also a huge brat."

"They all can't be angels like you." I said with a laugh. Katlyn tried to scowl, but it turned into a small smile. There was a small pause, before something crossed my mind.

"Hey, how long will it take for me to walk to the Pokémon gym?" I asked curiously.

"About half an hour. Why?" Katlyn asked.

"Well, I thought that I could get my badge today. Then tomorrow, I can help you practice for your contest." I said eagerly.

"I think we can, but I don't want to leave without telling my Mom first." Katlyn replied.

"Katlyn, I am right behind you. I heard ever word you said." Mrs. Ward said slightly annoyed.

"Oh yeah, so can I go?"

"I think you should go ahead and begin practicing for the contest. I don't know much, but I do know that you have to give a good show." Mrs. Ward said.

"Oh, ok. I guess I can't go. Be sure to record the fight or something." Katlyn said disappointedly.

"Katlyn, give Sam your phone. Just in case he needs anything or if he needs to be picked up." Mrs. Ward said. Katlyn dug into the pocket of her jeans and pulled out a smart phone.

"The password is 'university grad 01'" she said.

"Couldn't you pick a password that isn't super long?" I asked.

"Nope, if you do need to call us. You can go into speed dial and either call the house phone or you can call my Mom's cell."

"Ok, thanks. I'm going to get Marik and we will be off." I dashed into the house and quickly aroused Marik from his slumber. He wasn't to pleased, but he reluctantly got up. A few minutes later, we were heading back into town.

Katlyn's prediction about the time was correct. Within half an hour, I was standing in front of the gym. It was a lot more foreboding than I was expecting. The place filled me with dread just by looking at it. I knew that it was all in my mind since I read somewhere that this feeling was meant to unnerve the challengers.

"Well Marik, here we go." I said with a little fear slipping into my voice. Marik audibly gulped as we walked into the frightening building. There was nobody inside whatsoever. It almost looked abandoned. The only reason that I didn't turn around and leave was because of the lit candles that dotted the large, open reception area. I walked a little farther in and noticed several hallways that branched off into different direction. Without a single sign to tell me where to go, I went with my gut instinct and chose the corridor directly in front of me. Marik began to whimper as we went deeper into the dark hallway. Occasionally, we would walked past windowed doors with students inside practicing their abilities. "This place creeps me out." I muttered as we walked past a few more dark corridors. Despite all of the winding passageways and doors, I continued to walk straight ahead. Then the hallway began to widen. Within seconds, Marik and I were standing in front of the indoor battlefield.

" _Samuel Mattlov, I have been expecting you."_ A telepathic voice said expectantly. _"I am Sabrina. The leader of this gym. You met that old wanderer and his Gallade. I am expecting a good fight from you. Beware, if you lose, then I get to punish you for it."_

"If I win then I get the Marsh Badge correct?" I asked suspiciously.

" _That is correct, you should know that I have had a vision. It told me that I will defeat you without hardly lifting a finger. Do you still want to battle me?"_ Sabrina warned.

"I am a trainer. I will never back down to a challenge." I said boldly.

" _Very well, I guess I will have to put you in your place. You have heard of the stories, so you know that I am going to use my psychic abilities to their fullest."_

"I realize that, and I will use my abilities as a trainer to obtain that Marsh badge." I said in dead seriousness. Sabrina laughed aloud. It was a cold condescending laugh that made me tremble slightly.

" _Step up into the trainer box and send out your Luxio."_ I did what I was told and let Marik take his place on the field.

" _The battle shall commence."_

 **Katlyn's POV**

Mom had helped me, Caleb, and Jack practice for the contest. We basically started by letting Jack and Caleb decide who would be in the first part of the contest. After watching both of them use their moves, we decided that Jack would start out. We practiced for several hours training make his moves more awe-inspiring. We finally came up with something we thought would get us past the preliminaries. The move we picked was a mixture of Jack's Volt Tackle and several Thundershocks shooting out of it. The Thundershocks would then hit the light in such a way that it would almost be invisible. Then they would come smashing down in front of Jack where he would smash through them as soon as they touched the ground.

Mom said that what we needed to do for the battle round was have Jack and Caleb learn to work together. So for the next twenty minutes we watched the two attack targets at the same time. We were far from impressed. They either burned or shocked each other, or burned or shocked themselves. Jack, I could understand, but Caleb? How he managed to burn himself, is beyond me.

"Ok guys, we need to talk. You both really suck at team work. You both would do more damage to each other than anyone in a contest." I said disappointedly.

"It's our first try! What do you expect? _"_ Caleb huffed.

"Yeah, and we never really had to work with anyone else. So this is all new to us. _"_ Jack added.

"I'm sorry guys. I just...This is my first time really participating in something like this. I really want to do good." I said sadly.

"Hey, you don't have to worry about winning. You just need to have fun. That is all that really matters. _"_ Jack said. He smiled his goofy grin which caused me to feel a lot better. I then felt a rush of determination. I took a few steps back to study the battlefield.

"Caleb, use Ember! Jack use Volt Tackle and smash through the Ember and into the target!" I yelled with new exhilaration. Both nodded and performed their attacks simultaneously. Jack ran through the cloud of Embers and headed straight toward the target. The Embers got caught by the vortex of the Volt Tackle and swirled around the electrically enveloped mouse. The added Embers gave the attack a distinct reddish color. Jack slammed into the target. The resulting splinter of wood from the target put a large grin on my face.

"You did it! We might actually have a chance!" I yelled excitedly. Both Caleb and Jack beamed at me like children which I simple couldn't resist. I knelt down and gave them the largest hung I could.

"Katlyn, your... squeezing... air... out of me. _"_ Caleb wheezed.

"I... can't... breathe. _"_ Jack choked out.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry guys. I guess I got a little to excited." I laughed nervously. Jack looked at me with an understanding smile. Caleb tried to frown but it turned into a lopsided smirk.

"Come on guys, let's get some more moves down, then we can go get something to eat!" I said enthusiastically.

 **Sam's POV**

Sabrina had used an Abra to start with. Despite what most people think, it can definitely be a powerful opponent. Not so much in the way of attacking, but in the way that I grinds everyone's patients down until you make a fatal error. Then it normally takes advantage of that error and makes a clean getaway. Sabrina however had a specially breed of Abra, which had the move Ice Punch. Whenever somebody made a mistake, the Abra would rush in and smack its icy cold fist into the opponent's head. This attack pattern only, had sent many trainers and their Pokémon home. I knew that Sabrina would start with this combination, since it was her only real option. I made it look like I had made a mistake, that I was losing my patients. I tried to keep my mind clear of any hint that there was a hidden plan, deep inside my brain. Marik, use Bite!" I yelled. I noticed Sabrina was smiling mysteriously. I had set up my trap perfectly. Marik lunged in at the Abra and tried to take a bite out of it. The Abra silently floated out of the way and then came charging back towards Marik. Its hand was completely enveloped with ice. As it can closer, Marik grinned savagely.

"Marik, use Discharge and then use crunch!" I yelled. Marik quickly surrounded himself with flashing electricity, which he quickly released. The resulting discharge of energy had brightened the once dark room to an almost unbearable level. Once the light had dispersed everything had become pitch black because the light had destroyed the adjustments my eyes had made to the darkness. From what I could hear, Marik had just made a devastating attack against the already injured Abra. A red flash had shot out of Sabrina's corner and landed on a dark silhouette. The dark form had been surrounded by the red beam and was sucked away.

" _You have defeated my first Pokémon. You will not defeat my second."_ Sabrina said solemnly. All of the sudden, the room was renewed with a little bit of light as the candles hanging on the wall were lit by themselves.

"We will see about that." I replied. I already had a plan for her next Pokémon. In all of the other trainer battles, she used a Kadabra. It has more fighting ability than an Abra, and it was quite a bit faster as well.

"Be careful Marik. This next match is going to be a tough one." I cautioned. Marik looked confident. He had already gotten into his battle pose and looked as if he was going stop a freight train by himself. Sabrina casually tossed a Pokéball at the floor in front of her. Instead of a larger version of the Abra appearing, a large, purple figure had spawned. It had a wicked looking smile and large, red eyes. An ominous feeling began to form in the pit of my stomach as I realized that I didn't have a plan for defeating a Gengar.

" _This Pokémon, I show only to a select few. I have never lost with him by my side. He was given to me by the Champion himself before he had taken up the title of champion. He is the only Pokémon I have that I must give verbal orders. That does not mean we don't have a strong bond. It means that I have full confidence in his ability. Prepare yourself Samuel Mattlov. Your journey ends here."_ Sabrina looked me dead in the eye, and for the first time since the battle began, she spoke out loud. "Gengar use Night Shade." a long shadow attached itself to Marik's shadow. Marik, was flummoxed by this and didn't realize that the Gengar had become the shadow. Marik looked down to see the same creepy grin the Gengar always had. Seconds later, the Gengar jumped out of the shadow, punched Marik in the face before jumping back into the shadow and disappearing. Marik fell on his back because of the strength of the punch, but he quickly got back on his feet.

"Marik be careful, this is going to be a tough fight." I yelled. Marik tossed a glance that seemed to say 'thanks Captain Obvious' before returning his attention to the battle.

"Gengar, stop fooling around. You can hit harder than that. Use Shadow Ball." the Gengar jumped out from another shadow, and smile deviously as it held out a single hand, palm up. A purple orb began to form in its hand. It grew to about the size of a watermelon. Gengar began to laugh. Its horrid laughter filled the entire room as it threw the Shadow Ball. It raced at Marik with unbelievable speed.

"Marik! Dodge!" I yelled desperately. Marik was barely able to jump to the side. The Shadow Ball slammed into the ground behind him, cratering it.

"You have had your fun Gengar. Let's finish this right now." Sabrina held up her left arm. There was a bracelet on it with a simple jewel in the middle of it. The Gengar began to cackle as Sabrina slowly placed two of her fingers on it. Then she tapped it. The bracelet began to glow with intense light. The Gengar also began to glow. Suddenly it was engulfed in a purplish cocoon. It stayed like that for several seconds until the cocoon burst open. The Gengar had transformed. Its hands weren't hands as much as they were supports for its body. It had become a lighter purple color, and no longer had legs. The most prominent feature however, was its third yellow eye.

"I-it mega evolved." I stammered.

"You have no chance, Samuel Mattlov. No one has ever defeated Mega Gengar." Sabrina sneered.

"Marik, we are in serious trouble." I muttered. Marik began to back away and whimper.

'If we don't play this smart, we will lose for sure.' I thought. "Marik use Flash and then use Crunch!" I yelled. Once again, the room had filled with light, blinding everyone in the room. Marik charged forward and jumped at the Gengar. He bit down with amazing pressure that would have ripped a human's hand straight off. The Gengar only flinched and then smiled its evil smile.

"Gengar, throw that cat away from you then use Hypnosis." Sabrina ordered. With a single flick of the Gengar's arm Marik flew across the room. Then the Gengar's third eye began to shine. It sent a beam of alternating colors at Marik. They hit Marik and he was almost instantly entranced. He fell to the ground, asleep. "Now use Dream Eater." The Gengar grinned as it began to glow a bright gold. Marik also began to glow, but he began to shake violently.

"Marik! Wake up!" I cried out. Marik only began to shake even more violently. The Gengar then suddenly cried out in immense pain. I didn't know what to think. Was this just a ploy? Or was this real? Is Sabrina trying to give me false hope? Or did she not know what was going on either? Judging by her expression, she didn't know what was happening either. Instead of looking healthier and stronger, the Gengar began to look weaker. A few more seconds the Gengar had fallen to the ground, and reverted to its original form.

"What happened?" I asked to stunned to ask anything else.

"I am not sure. I think that somehow Dream Eater back fired. If that is the case then that means that whatever he was dreaming about was bad, like a recurring nightmare or a memory. That is my hypothesis." Sabrina said in just as much surprise. The Gengar tried to get to its feet but it just collapsed. Marik was still asleep, but he was breathing heavily and trembling.

"I better get him to the Pokémon center. They will know what to do. I guess this means I lost."

"No, according to League regulations, you win by default. Here is your Marsh badge. You did a good job fighting me for the first time. I will get a rematch, one of these days. So be ready." Sabrina said. A badge floated up from next to the gym leader and flew to me. I grabbed it and looked at it solemnly. "I do want to warn you. The path you are following is a dangerous one. If you continue down it, you will have to choose between your own happiness and the happiness of your friend. Choose wisely."

"Yes ma'am, I will." I said. I walked over to Marik and gently picked him up. He still trembled but not as hard as he was. I quickly ran to the nearest Pokémon center.

 **Charlie's POV**

The old farmer I was staying with should me great hospitality. Unfortunately, my work as a spy was still not complete. I learned that the girl was training for a contest in Jackson, and knew that the boy was fighting for his Marsh badge. This time the girl wasn't my worry. Sabrina was once a part of Team Rocket. When she resigned from Team Rocket, she promised to never speak of anything related to the organization. Unfortunately it has been many years since we had any contact with the gym leader and Giovanni was worried that she might ruin his plan. He was going to have her taken care of but that wouldn't work for two reasons. She is to high profile of a target and she would be able to sense our presence before we could get close enough to finish her off. Giovanni wanted me to talk to her, to see where she stood. If she said anything to the boy, I would have to kill her myself. I hate getting my hands messy like that.

"So you are the Rocket scum Giovanni has sent to see if I kept my end of the deal. How quaint." the gym leader said vehemently.

"I hear that you are psychic. Was that a taste of your power or are you just good at guessing." I asked.

"It doesn't take a psychic to know that Giovanni will send his grunts to make sure his operation is still on schedule. No, I did not tell the boy about the spy. You should tell Giovanni that his method of body hopping is unstable. That spy caused serious trauma to my Gengar, because of the own damage his mentality has suffered. Tell Giovanni that his science isn't complete yet."

"I will tell him the news. Giovanni thanks you for your cooperation." I said snidely.

"I'm sure he does." Sabrina said coldly.

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I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Again, I am sorry that this came out so late but once you read this chapter I will be uploading a new story that will act as a back story on Emily, Devin, and Austin. I can't promise when the next chapter will be out, but it should be out sometime next week. If you have anything to say about the story, you know what to do. If you like the story, be sure to smash that favorite/follow button. This is shieldliger001 signing off.


	29. Chapter 29

Hello everyone, shield here. This chapter was pretty fun to write, and I really hope you enjoy it. I was going to release this chapter a few days ago but I decided that I was going to make this a longer chapter for y'all. I would also like to thank Silicon42, Hobbes22, Desidere, and Ta-Ni Kitsune for following and/or favoriting the story. Also a special thanks to Mades for helping me work out some kinks on A New Age and following that story. I would also like to thank Philip Harbindinger for his continued support and reviews. Last but not least, I would like to thank Monpoke for following ANA and showing support many times over on this story. And thank you to all of those who have read the and followed the story and have left reviews. On to the reviews.

Monpoke: I am actually pleased to announce that this chapter will put OMAA over the 100k word mark without the A/N.

Philip Harbindinger: I figured that the Haunter Sabrina got from Ash would evolve. I don't think it would evolve through trading, so I just said that it evolved. I also figured that since the Haunter was the first to make Sabrina laugh, a special bond would form between the Haunter and Sabrina. I also thought that throwing in a Gengar would be a unique twist since Sabrina is a psychic type trainer and Gengar is a ghost/poison type.

* * *

 **The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.**

 **Vince Lombardi**

* * *

 **Chapter 29**

 **Sam's POV**

After about an hour or so, Marik was back to his unbelievably quiet self. The nurse that had helped us gave me some medication for him to take if he ever felt sore. I quickly pocketed the meds; then we headed back to Katlyn's. It started to get a little dark by the time I made it back. Katlyn was a little mad that I forgot to record the match for her, but she quickly forgot about it when I showed her the Marsh badge. Everyone else had gone to bed so my congratulations was very small. I didn't really mind, because my going to the gym was rather spontaneous. I took a quick shower and headed up to bed myself.

"Sam, wake up. Sam! Wake up!" a girl whispered. Her words pierced through my slumber just like a bullet through cloth.

"Katlyn, what do you want? I'm trying to sleep." I moaned as Katlyn prodded me awake.

"It's seven in the morning. Mom is making breakfast. Besides, you said you would help us practice for the contest when you got up." she replied innocently.

"I said I would help. I didn't say when." I replied through gritted teeth.

"Well, you are awake now, so after breakfast you can help me practice for the contest tomorrow." she smiled.

"I just thought of something. After the contest, we will be traveling again." I realized. "By ourselves."

"I guess you're right. I can't believe I forgot about that." Katlyn said as realization had finally dawned on her. "It is nice being with my parents, but they treat me like a kid. Finally getting back on the road will make me feel somewhat better. You know?" she gazed at me with confused eyes.

"I can't imagine what you are... strike that, I do know a little." I said.

"At least your parents didn't see you like that." she said bitterly.

"I know, and I can't imagine how weird that is for you three." We both sat there for several long seconds before I decided to break the veil of silence. "So what did y'all work on yesterday?"

"We just practice some moves for the contest, and we worked on Jack and Caleb's teamwork. I think that, with a little more practice, we will have a pretty good shot at winning." Katlyn said with a brighter tone of voice.

"Ok, I will work with you after breakfast. Just let me get cleaned up and I will be right down." I said deviously. Katlyn sighed then walked out into the hallway. I quietly got out of bed, shut the door, and locked it.

"Sam! You freaking liar! Open this door right now!" Katlyn yelled as she banged on the door.

"Sorry, I can't here you over the sound of my eye lids closing." I laughed.

"Fine be that way!" she yelled. It was quiet for an astounding amount of one minute. After that single minute, the door knob began to rattle. A few seconds later, the door was flung open with Katlyn standing in the doorframe.

"Next time you lock the door on somebody, make sure they don't have the spare key." She spat.

"Fine, I'll get up." I grumbled.

"You better. Oh yeah, my Mom called your parents this morning. They are kind of mad because you haven't called them in a while. They decided that they were going to send something in the mail. They said they paid for the express fee, so it should be here tomorrow."

"What does that have to do with them being mad?" I asked.

"I don't know? What do I look like? The shell answer man? Look, all I know is that they are sending you something in the mail. Now hurry up and come on." Katlyn said impatiently.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming."

 **Katlyn's POV**

Despite Sam being the one helping me get around the region, he was pretty annoying sometimes. The stunt he just pulled wasn't helping his case. He came down a little after I did. We quickly ate breakfast and we headed outside. We were just about to get started when my Dad's car pulled up. He got out and barely acknowledged my existence. Only after I called for him did he realize that I was there.

"Hey sweetie how have you been? Hello, I'm assuming that you are Sam?" Dad said awkwardly.

"Yes sir, Mr. Ward." Sam replied cheerfully.

"So Dad, whatcha doing?" I asked nervously.

"I am going to talk to your mom about something." My Dad seemed uneasy, as if he didn't know how to continue. After a few seconds, he took a deep breath. "Katlyn, I talked to Mr. Ketchum about your situation. I've known him for quite a long time, ever since he first tried to beat the Pokémon League here in Kanto. I asked him to do me a few favors. He agreed. He has connections pretty high up in the government. He got me somethings in order to help make things easier if... if you don't get back to normal."

"What kind of things?" I asked. I trembled slightly as all kinds of thoughts raced through my head.

"We'll...we'll talk about that later. You look like you are about to do something."

"Ok, I...I guess I will talk to you later." I faltered. Dad smiled dolefully at me, then walked inside the house.

"Sam, I don't think I can practice right now." I said as depression set in.

"You couldn't practice even if you were in a better mood. You don't have what it takes." Sam said impartially.

"What did you just say? Why, I ought to just beat the crap out of you." I threatened. All of my sadness had transformed into rage. I was ready to completely knock Sam out.

"Whoa now, let me rephrase that! You don't have what it takes because Jack and Caleb are inside! I didn't mean to make it sound like you couldn't do it or anything!" Sam yelled as he slowly began to back away.

"Oh, yeah. Next time, word it differently!" I yelled as I kicked Sam in the shin as hard as I could. Sam cried out in a mixture of surprise and pain.

"Ok, ok, I will reword it next time! I wasn't thinking!" he said quickly.

"You better or I will kick higher next time." I threatened.

"Look on the bright side, at least you aren't sad anymore."

"Sam, I am really not in the mood right now." I warned. "Let's just find Caleb and Jack."

 **Caleb's POV**

"Katlyn, can we stop now? My legs feel like they are going to fall off. _"_ I panted. I was beginning to run on fumes.

"Yeah, and my cheeks are getting sore. _"_ Jack added.

"No, the contest is tomorrow and we have to be ready." Katlyn said steadfastly.

"Yes sir Master Drill sergeant. _"_ I said sarcastically.

"Caleb, just shut up and practice."

"What do I look like to you? I'm not your pet or your property. _"_ I declared.

"If you want to leave, than fine. I'll find someone else who can help me!"

"I said that I would help and I will. But I am not going to be treated like crap just because you had a crappy morning! You are always overreacting! You need to learn to calm down! Especially when people push your buttons! _"_ I yelled.

"Um, Caleb? Don't you think that you are overreacting just a little? _"_ Jack asked quietly. I became quiet as I thought about it.

"You are right Jack. Katlyn, I'm sorry. I guess I did overreact a little. _"_

"It's fine, let's do one more run down, and then we can call it a day."

"It's about time you stop arguing. You guys were going good until you started arguing." Sam said as we got into position. "Ok, from the top; action!"

 **Katlyn's POV**

When we were done practicing, we just sat outside and talked. Aside from talking, there really wasn't anything else to do. I wanted to put off talking to my Dad for as long as possible, and staying outside seemed like the best way to do that. Unfortunately, everyone else was getting hungry and there is no reasoning with people who are running on empty stomachs. I stalled for as long as I could, but eventually everyone else had enough and went inside. I sighed and followed suit.

"It's about time you all came in. Your lunch was starting to get cold." Mom said as she set some plates on the table.

"Katlyn, your mother and I decided that I will take you to the contest tomorrow. Your mother has a doctor appoint at nine-thirty tomorrow morning. She won't be able to drop you off. As soon as her appointment is over she will come to see your contest." Dad said as I sat down.

"All right." I sighed. "Dad, what did you want to talk about." Dad shifted uncomfortably.

"Honey, why don't you wait until tomorrow for you two to discuss that." Mom suggested.

"I don't see why we should put this off. She needs to know right now or it will just be harder to tell her later." Dad said firmly. Dad then turned and looked at me.

"I called in a favor from the Champion. He pulled some strings and made it to where he can put you into the system whenever we need to. If you get to the shrine and you can't be changed back, you can no longer be Katlyn." Dad said. A chilled shiver went through me as I realized what he was saying. I didn't want to believe it I kept trying to convince myself that he wasn't.

"What exactly do you mean?" I asked. My voice barely louder than a whisper.

"We would have to basically fake your death. You would no longer be Katlyn the college student. We would have to most likely change your name. To everyone else, you would be somebody else." Dad replied solemnly.

"It won't come to that. I promise you that it won't come to that Dad." I vowed. A mixture of sorrow and rage filled my very being.

"Katlyn, I had to make preparations, just in case. It's not that I doubt you, but it is always good to have a backup." Dad said calmly.

"So, who will I be if the shrine doesn't work?" I asked.

"I...we haven't decided. I was hoping that I wouldn't have to decide. You get to that shrine first. You better eat your lunch." Dad pushed his chair back and left the room.

"Whoa, that was some pretty heavy stuff." Sam whispered. I looked at everyone else in the room. Mom and Jack both had sad frowns on their faces, Sam was trying his best to look nonchalant, but he couldn't stop from frowning. Caleb, despite the red fur, looked pale. He was also shaking nervously.

"Caleb? Are you ok?" I asked.

"Y-yeah I-I'm fine. I just need to go do something. _"_ Caleb replied. He instantly ran out of the room.

 **Caleb's POV**

"Maggie! Maggie where are you? _"_ I yelled as I wandered around aimlessly. I didn't see her or any of the other Pokémon, except Jack, all day. After who knows how long of walking, I finally caught onto her scent. It was maybe a few hours old, but it was still a trail I could follow. I found the entire group having a good old time by the pond on the far side of our property. Maggie, Lawrence, and Basil were sun bathing, while Zan and Marik were taking a dip in the pond. Apparently, nobody joined them out of the fear that they may accidentally get shocked.

"Do you know what you did?" I seethed with anger. I was filled with so much fury that I could barely control myself. Maggie looked up at me from where she lay. She obviously hadn't heard the news yet.

"Caleb, what's wrong? _"_ she asked innocently.

"Do you remember what you did in Celadon City? _"_ I asked, trembling with rage.

"Yeah, and I already apologized for it. I told you before that I was only trying to help. _"_

"Really? Really? You were only trying to help? Do you know what my Dad just got done telling Katlyn? He told her that if the shrine doesn't work out, that Katlyn Ward would be dead! They are going to make everyone she knows, relatives and all, think that she is died! _"_ I yelled acrimoniously. Maggie was taken aback by my words.

"Caleb, let's talk about this somewhere else. Nobody else needs to hear our discussion. _"_ Maggie said after she regained her composure.

"I think that everyone has the right to know. In fact, they should know. They should know how you... _"_

"Shut your mouth right now or I will shut it for you! They have nothing to do with this! This is about me and you and nobody else! _"_ Maggie said sharply. Despite the raging inferno inside me, her words affected me like taking a Hydro Cannon straight to the chest. I crouched low to the ground out of fright. Maggie walked over to me and picked me up by the scruff of the neck. She carried me out of earshot and placed me roughly on the ground.

"I will give you an opportunity to tell me what you were doing. If I don't like your answer, so help me, I will make your life a living hell until you leave tomorrow. _"_ Maggie threatened. I wanted to say something like 'I wouldn't burn' but all I could do was whimper. _"_ Well? What do you have to say for yourself? _"_

"I-I'm sorry, I was j-just upset. _"_ I whimpered. Maggie's expression softened as I sat there whimpering pathetically.

"Caleb, I know you are upset. Often times, I regret what I did. However, what's done is done. There is no going back and changing it. There is one thing I am certain about. _"_

"What is that? _"_ I asked.

"It will all work out in the end. That, I am certain of. Why don't you join us? Relax while you can. After tomorrow, you will get very little time to relax. _"_ Maggie didn't even wait for my reply. She quickly picked me up and carried me back to the pond.

 **Katlyn's POV**

The next morning was chaotic. Mom had left for her appointment, leaving me and Dad the chore of getting everyone organized. It was no easy task. Half of the group wanted to stay, mainly Zan, Marik, and Lawrence. That caused the other half to argue, Caleb, Jack, and Basil. Eventually, Sam and I rounded everyone up and placed most of them into their Pokéballs. By the time we got everyone situated and I got everything I needed into the car, it was already nine-thirty. The contest didn't start until ten-thirty, but I had to be early in order to get dressed in my contest clothes. I tried to rush everyone outside to the waiting car, but they weren't going to break any land speed records today. Eventually, we got into the car and we drove to the contest hall in Jackson.

Jackson is a small town to the east of Saffron City. It was around long before Saffron could even considered a village, but for one reason or another the town never grew above three thousand in population. It was close enough to Saffron to act as a sort of gateway to Saffron City. Because of this, the town was able to get quite a bit of business. In a surprising twist, Jackson is actually one of the richest towns in Kanto. We pulled up to the contest hall with little time to spare. I had to run in and check in so I wouldn't be disqualified for being late. A few minutes later, Sam came in. Apparently, I had to have Sam come with me for supervision. I hated this but it couldn't be helped. It didn't take long for me to get ready, but it did take longer for Caleb and Jack. They didn't like the idea of getting groomed, and they really didn't like the gel that I was using to make their fur shine. It took me most of the thirty minutes just to get them to accept the gel. At last, they finally conceded and let me finish my job.

Once we were ready, I headed to the staging area. Once there, a stage hand told me I needed to find which number I was and wait in the waiting room. I found the match board and looked for my name. To my utter disappointment, I was third to last out of three hundred contestants. Then a thought struck me, what number was that Emily Lee girl? I quickly found her name. Which was ten slots in front of me.

"I hope this goes by, pretty fast." I said to myself. I walked over to the waiting room. The announcer began the contests with the naming of the judges.

"Today's judges are Mr. Contesta, the director of the Pokémon committee, Mr. Pockman, the Mayor of Jackson, and Nurse Joy!" The crowd yelled excitedly after every introduction. "Now, let me introduce today's coordinators!"

I waited for what seemed like forever. If Sam hadn't of been with me, I would have been bored out of my mind. I could hear the announcer outside introducing contestant after contestant, but soon I was asleep in my chair.

"Katlyn, they called your number. You better hurry or they might disqualify you." Sam said as he shook me awake.

"I told you to wake me when that Emily girl went up." I mumbled as I stood up.

"Sorry, I forgot. Hurry up. I will be in the stands with your parents. They said that they would be somewhere on the left side of the auditorium. Break a leg." Sam said as he waved good-bye. I waved back; then rushed to the stage. Caleb followed close behind me, and Jack sat on my shoulder.

"The next contestant is a seven-year-old girl from Saffron City. Don't let her age fool you. She is one of the few children to receive a junior trainer permit. If she could get that, then we will be in for one amazing performance! Please welcome Katlyn Ward to her first contest!" the announcer yelled to the excited crowds. I grimaced at what the emcee had said, but I continued onto the stage. I took a deep breath and ran out on the stage.

"Jack do your stuff!" I yelled nervously. Jack jumped from my shoulder and started charging electricity. Jack launched three Thundershocks, in rapid succession, into the air. The bolts flew down at the exact moment Jack had charged a Volt Tackle. He smashed through the Thundershocks which sent sparks in every direction in a dazzling display. Jack came to a stop in the middle of the stage. The crowd applauded and whistled. I looked at the judges nervously. They were whispering amongst themselves. Then they began pressing buttons on their consoles.

"I must say that, for your first time in a contest, your Pokémon did a splendid job. You should be proud of what I am about to give you." Mr. Contesta applauded as his number appeared on the screen. "For your performance, I believe you deserve this." A bright red ten appeared on his scoring screen.

"I must be perfectly honest. I did think your performance was exceptionally well thought out and executed, but I feel that you and your Pokémon were to tense. You both need to loosen up when you are in these contests, and remember to have fun. Your tenseness made your routine seem almost automatonlike." Mayor Pockman said as a red six appeared on the score screen. I looked at my feet in disappointment.

"I must agree that you did seem a little tense, but I don't think it hindered your display. You obviously practiced your routine for a long time. Since this is your first contest, you can't help but to be a little nervous. You are both very skilled and I would love to see you go onto the next round." Nurse Joy smiled. A bright red nine appeared.

"It looks to me that Katlyn may be going onto the next round! Give her a hand folks!" the crowd erupted with applause and shouting. I smiled and walked off the back stage.

When I got out of the staging area, I saw Mom, Dad, and Sam standing just to the side of the exit.

"You did great honey!" Mom said as she gave me a hug.

"Thanks, I was kind of scared. I didn't think there would be so many people here." I said.

"It looks like you will make it to the battle round. Do you have any ideas of what you are going to do?" Dad asked. I shook my head no.

"I thought that I would just improvise, since I really don't know what to expect. I have a few things that I can do though."

"You had better be careful, I will be one of the ones out there you know. _"_ Caleb said warily.

"Actually, you will be the only one out there. Apparently, the battle round is a one on one." I laughed lightly.

"What? _"_ Caleb asked with a deadly glare.

"Yeah, I asked one of the stage hands and they said that it was a single one on one fight."

"I'm dead. I am going to be chewed up and spit out. _"_ Caleb fretted.

"We won't do that bad. You will do fine." I said with confidence.

"I don't think I want your brother fighting by himself. I would like to see him in one piece when he is normal again. I honestly can't believe that he actually agreed to participating in a contest to begin with." Dad said disapprovingly.

"Dad, I am right here. I can hear every word you say. _"_ Caleb moaned. "I told her that I would help and that is that."

"Son, I know that you want to help, but you shouldn't degrade yourself like this."

"Dad, he wants to help and that is his decision." I defended. Caleb looked at me with suspicious eyes.

"Are you sure it's not because you need me to participate? _"_ Caleb asked. I remained silent for several long minutes. Caleb opened his mouth but was interrupted by a loudspeaker.

"Thank you for your patients. The following announcement is for all coordinators. If the following coordinators will please make their way to the battle stages." the voice began to announce various names. I was becoming more and more disappointed. The list came to the very end and I was sure that I didn't make the cut. "And finally Katlyn Ward. If all of these coordinators will make their way to the battle stage, the battle competition will begin shortly."

"I made it! Mom! Dad! I made it!" I yelled excitedly. I jumped up and down just like a kid on Christmas day.

"We heard." Mom laughed as I made a complete fool out of myself. "We will be rooting for you. You better hurry before they start without you."

"Ok! I'll see y'all after the contest!" I said to them.

"Katlyn don't get too upset if you don't win. I'm just proud that you made it this far." Dad said proudly. Despite the seriousness just moments before, It seemed like everyone was happy for the first time since before Caleb's incident.

"I'll make you proud." I vowed.

"You already have." Dad replied. "Now get out there and show the world what you can do."

 **Caleb's POV**

The battle stage was just an ordinary dirt battlefield in a large room. A jumbotron stadium screen hung from behind the field in order to provide the audience with a close up view of the battles that were about to begin. We were matched up against three other trainers...er...coordinators. The first one was some dude from Fuchsia City. The second person was none other then the same girl from the store. Katlyn looked as if she was going to hurl something through the air. She managed to restrain herself, but only just. We were one of the first matches so we wouldn't have to wait long for our match to begin.

After ten minutes of waiting, the battle competition began. We watched as two coordinators battled it out. One had a Raichu, while the other had a Chansey. I never knew that Pokémon moves could be used in such a way that made them seem like an art form. I always thought that coordinators were a bunch of weirdos that couldn't make it as real trainers. The truth is, is that these people are extremely talented. At the end of the fight, the Raichu won by a particularly amazing combination of Flash and Thunder. The result was that the Chansey had fainted, meaning that it lost all of its points.

"The next match is between Katlyn Ward and her Vulpix, and Mark Thompson and his Teddiursa!" the announcer yelled over the loudspeaker.

"That's us Caleb." Katlyn said quietly.

"Yeah, let's beat them." I said with determination. We stepped out onto the battlefield. Katlyn stood in the trainer box while I stood on the actual battlefield. From what I can remember, there are four ways to lower your points or your opponent's points. You can do it by using a move but failing, using an appealing move, causing a Pokémon to faint, or by using the opponent's move against them. As determined as I was, I just somehow knew that this wasn't going to end well for me. I had just learned how to use my fire attacks, and I am sure that my tackles aren't going to be very pretty either. If I wanted to win, it would be by outsmarting my opponent.

"Coordinators, ready! Fight!" a referee called as he commenced the battle.

"Teddiursa! Use Sweet Kiss!" the coordinator yelled. The Teddiursa began to run at me. I was frozen in place, not sure what to do. Then Katlyn ordered me to use Tackle. As if a twig snapped, I jolted out of my panic and into action. The Teddiursa was still coming at me, but I wasn't worried.

"Caleb! Use Ember before you hit!" I shot out several small fire balls as I ran. As I ran, I continued to use Ember. The small flames were adding to themselves and before I could blink, they had grown into a single large flaming ball. The ball began to pull away from me, so I sped up.

"Teddiursa, dodge and counter with a Dynamic Punch!" The Teddiursa dodge the flaming ball by a hair. Its left arm began to glow a white color which then swung in an amazing left hook. The attack knocked every bit of oxygen out of my body. I flew backwards and landed roughly on my back.

'What happened to playing it smart?' I chided myself. I looked up at the point board to see that my bar was already a sixth of the way depleted.

"Katlyn! Let me take care of this! I think I know what I can do to beat him! _"_ I yelled to Katlyn as soon as I could breathe again. Katlyn nodded slightly.

"Caleb! Plan B!" She yelled. I was confused by what she said at first, but then realized that she was giving me the ok.

"Teddiursa! Dazzle that Vulpix with your Feint Attack!" The Teddiursa began to run towards me once more. Then it disappeared. I closed my eyes and concentrated. During the last few days, Zan taught me this neat trick for finding hidden enemies. It wasn't anything special like sensing aura, but it is helpful. All you did was listen, then find the quietest place. Once you have found that place you launch a ranged attack at that area. It has a ninety-nine percent chance of working. I quickly found that place, despite all of the noise, and fired a shower of Embers. At first I thought I had missed, until the Teddiursa had reappeared with the top of its head on fire. The Teddiursa's point gauge fell significantly as the little bear rolled around on the ground trying to put the fire out.

"Teddiursa! Use Hidden Power and Dynamic Punch at the same time!" The Teddiursa obeyed and charged up both attacks, the Dynamic Punch was still in its left hand, while a mysterious green energy glowed in its right. It began a new charge.

'Same song different tune.' I thought as the Teddiursa came closer. 'I hope this works.' the Teddiursa swung with its left hand first. I jumped up and landed on the bear's head! Then, before it had any chance to react, I pushed off again. The Teddiursa had lost its balance and toppled to the ground. It landed on its right arm, which still possessed the energy of the Hidden Power. The energy was released in a brilliant display of green. The little bear flew up into the air and came smashing down hard. It didn't even twitch. We waited about thirty seconds, and the ref called the battle.

"Caleb! You won your first battle!" Katlyn cheered. She ran onto the battlefield and nearly hugged the life out of me. "We may actually have a chance!" she continued. We quickly got off the field and found Mom, Dad, and Sam.

"You two did great! I am so proud of the both of you!" Mom said as she gave us both kisses.

"That was quite the piece of strategy, Caleb. When you finally get to the Pokémon league, I have no doubt that you will be able to get the championship title." Dad commented.

"Thanks, Dad. _"_ I smiled.

 **Charles' POV**

The contest was going smoothly. The battles were getting pretty intense as the more experienced coordinators began to battle. Unfortunately, I couldn't concentrate. I couldn't help but to think of why I was still on this mission. I reported enough info to be able to satisfy even the most nosy people, but here I am still watching this girl. Team Rocket could have made their move whenever they felt like it, but something was causing Giovanni to hold back. I watched the battle intently, but saw none of it.

"Giovanni, what are you after?" I muttered to myself.

* * *

I really hope that y'all enjoyed the chapter. I had a good time writing it. If you have any comments, be sure to leave a review. If you are enjoying the story, be sure to smash that favorite/follow button. This is shieldliger001, signing off.


	30. Chapter 30

Hey guys shield here. This chapter is the second part of chapter 29. I really hope you guys like it. On to the reviews.

Monpoke: as you will see, that is the opening of this chapter. I thought that would make a good conversation starter between father and son.

Phillip Harbindinger: I'm going to try and get away from the underdog. I am glad you thought that it was original. I wasn't sure if I was doing that part right.

Guest: In chapter 23, Maggie does something that really affects the story. If you haven't read it I suggest you do before you continue.

* * *

 **Sibling rivalry was and still is to this day, rampant in my family. We were all competing for my parents' divided attention.**

 **Janine di Giovanni.**

* * *

 **Chapter 30**

 **Caleb's POV**

"I can't be a champion like this. _"_ I said to my dad as we waited for our next battle.

"Sure you can. Maggie is a champion. She and your mother both. I still hope that you will be normal when you take the title, but I will still be proud if and when you win." Dad said quietly as to not attract to much attention.

"Dad, I promise you that we will do our best to find a way out of this mess. _"_

"I know you two will. You better protect your sister while you travel." Dad said somberly.

"Caleb, out match is up next. We better head back stage." Katlyn said as the current battle drew to a close.

"Good luck! Be sure to whip them hard!" Sam shouted as we pushed our way through the crowds. If it weren't for a ten minute intermission, we would have been late. Apparently, everyone had to start moving when we needed to get down to the stage. The intermission ended shortly after we had arrived and we were sent out to the battlefield.

"Our next match should be quite exciting! In the blue trainer box, we have Katlyn Ward and her Vulpix! In the red trainer box, is Emily Lee and her Cyndaquil! Are both competitors ready? Begin!"

'This is going to be a tough fight.' I thought as both Katlyn and Emily stared each other down. _"_ Katlyn! The clock is ticking! Do something! _"_ I yelled. Katlyn shook her head for moment then called out her first order. I knew exactly what to do and how to defeat the opponent, but I needed Katlyn to give orders for two reasons. The first being that we needed to be as inconspicuous as possible. The second reason was that it would help Katlyn feel as though she is in control of at least one thing in her life.

"Caleb, use Ember and Tackle!" she yelled as she finally got a grip of herself. I ran at the Cyndaquil while simultaneously shooting off small embers. The Ember attacks weren't in range quite yet. I hoped that I could replicate the move I had down in the last battle.

"Brand, use Flaming Swift." Emily said calmly. The Cyndaquil surrounded itself with fire as if it were using Flame Wheel. Instead of charging, flaming yellow stars shot out of the billowing column of flames.

"Caleb! Watch out!" Katlyn yelled out of panic.

"That move can't miss! What would you like me to do? _"_ I yelled as I tried my hardest to brace for the impact. The fiery stars homed in on me like a heat seeking missile. The fire didn't affect me in the slightest, but the impact knocked the air out of me. I cringed slightly as my pain receptors sent their report to my brain. I managed to shrug most of the pain off, and got ready for my next move. I snuck a peek at the point board. I was down by several points, but the Cyndaquil hadn't lost a single point.

"Caleb! Use Smoke Screen and Ember!" I quickly did as I was told. I released enough smoke to fill up half of the battlefield. Hidden deep inside the center, I released a barrage of Ember attacks. I could see the Cyndaquil trying to look through the smoke but to no avail. Many of the embers hit which lowered the Cyndaquil's points little by little. Soon we were tied.

"Brand, let's wrap this up. Use Flamethrower on the sand, then use Mud Slap. The Cyndaquil took a deep breath. It shot out a large amount of fire directed at the ground straight ahead of it. I was perplexed by this odd tactic, and I didn't know what to do. I would have told Katlyn to let me handle things a long time ago, but I didn't that I would be able to do anything much different. The Cyndaquil stopped its Flamethrower and waited exactly ten seconds. I took my chances and charged out of the smoke, in an all out Tackle. Just as I was about to hit, the Cyndaquil slammed its paw into the newly formed glass it had created. It cracked under the pressure. The Cyndaquil then sent shards of glass and sand at me. The shards dug deep into my skin and the sand burned in my eyes. To everyone else, the light sparkled and shined as it danced through the air. To me, it was like being impaled by a million tiny swords. The pain was hard to ignore. Every single time I breathed, the shards would poke and prod at my pain receptors. I barely managed to dodge a simple Tackle as my nerves shrieked at me to stop my movement. Soon, I was unable to move and I was slammed with a Tackle. The move was the last straw. I blacked out because of the pain.

 **Katlyn's POV**

"The winner is Emily!" the ref said as Caleb lay motionless on the ground. Tears began to form in my eyes as I watched Caleb lying on the ground. I rush onto the field and picked his body up off the ground. The ref looked at me with pity.

"If you want, I can help you find your parents. The next battle won't start for another ten minutes." He said.

"N-no, I k-know where they are." I sniffled as I walked slowly off the stage. I felt a hand clasp onto my shoulder and I was quickly spun around. To my surprise, it was Emily.

"What do you want?" I said coldly.

"Me and my brother need to talk to you for a few minutes. It's important." she said with complete seriousness.

"Why should I go with you? You just beat the living crap out Caleb and you expect me to drop everything and talk to you?" I asked incredulously.

"Look, it directly involves you and your brother there." Emily motioned towards Caleb.

"H-how do you know about him. I haven't told anyone aside from my family." I asked astounded.

"That is one of the things we need to talk about. Just follow me." I felt that I had no choice but to follow her. I kept thinking of excuses and reasons not to go, but I shot every objection down with reasons of why I had to go. Emily quietly ducked out the emergency exit with me following closely behind. Outside stood Austin and little Devin.

"Hi, Katlyn. I know that this is going to sound insane, but we are here to help you and Caleb." Austin said solemnly. He didn't act like he did the first time we met. He was a lot more serious and he looked as if he hadn't slept.

"What he means, is that we are here to warn you, then get as far away as possible." Devin corrected. Devin looked too young to be able to talk like that, and so it caught me off guard.

"Devin, be quiet. You know that is not what we are supposed to do." Austin reprimanded. Austin then turned his attention back to me. "Let me just explain a few things, first me, Emily and Devin are like you. Devin is actually my nineteen-year-old brother. Emily is my brother's eighteen-year-old girlfriend. I'm actually supposed to be fifteen." My jaw dropped. It literally dropped. Austin chuckled while Emily and Devin grimaced.

"You two really got the short end of that stick." I said when I could talk again.

"No, we got the big end of the stick. We got beat with it." Devin muttered. "Do you know how many times I have had my hair ruffled by complete strangers? I freaking hate it!"

"Careful, little kids like you shouldn't say things similar to the alternative." Austin smirked as he tried to lighten the mood.

"You are lucky that I don't just start yelling the real thing everywhere we go." Devin then looked up at me. "Do you see what I have to put up with?"

"Don't worry, I'm used to it by now." I replied.

"So you believe us?" Emily asked. She was obviously shocked. I guess they just didn't expect me to be so easily persuaded.

"Why wouldn't I? I have seen so many weird things in the last few months that it is a little hard not to believe you." I looked at Caleb and realized that I still needed to take him to the Pokémon center. "I need to go get Caleb taken care of. How about we talk later. Here is my cell number." I listed off the numbers and Austin said that he could remember them. I hurried off to find my parents so we could go to the Pokémon center. Despite just losing and Caleb being hurt, I wasn't to upset.

 **Sam's POV**

"Are you sure these people are legit? I mean, don't you think it is just weird that three people say that they are all just like you out of the clear blue?" I asked as we waited at the Pokémon center.

"You should have heard them. It was so weird talking to them. It was as if they didn't really know how to act. Not in a bad way but they seemed like they were out of place." Katlyn said.

"Honey, I don't think that you should talk to those three. They could be trying to kidnap you or something." Mrs. Ward said apprehensively.

"Mom, I can take care of myself. Besides, I think they may have some answers for me."

"I think your mom is right. You need to be careful. If they ask you to do anything out of the ordinary, just run." Dad agreed.

"Alright, I will, but I don't think that it will come to that." Katlyn replied.

"So what way are you two going to take to get to Lavender?" Mr. Ward asked as he fidgeted.

"We are just going to head straight for it. We are going to stop by Aurelian City, but that will be a small pit stop. We are going to try and head straight through as quickly as possible, that way we can get Katlyn changed back as soon as possible." I explained.

"Samuel, you had better take care of my daughter. If anything happens to her, I will never forgive you." Mr. Ward said darkly.

"You don't need to worry. I will take good care of her. I won't let anyone lay a finger on her." I promised. A few minutes later, Caleb was out and ready for our trip.

"Katlyn, I don't want Caleb battling ever again. That was to heart wrenching to watch. I felt as though I was going to throw up." Mrs. Ward said sternly. Caleb growled in protest but was quickly shot down by his mother's death glare.

"I don't care what you think Caleb. The fact of the matter is, is that you are a human being stuck in another body. You shouldn't be acting as something you aren't. Watching you get beat to a bloody pulp was not something I want to see again." Mrs. Ward said. "Katlyn, promise me that you won't let him fight." Mrs. Ward demanded.

"Don't worry Mom, I won't let him fight." Katlyn agreed.

"If we get moving right now, we may be able to reach one of the roadside Pokémon centers." I said.

"Ok. Mom, Dad I love you and I will call y'all when we stop for the night." Katlyn gave each of them a hug.

"You two better get your things out of the car. You wouldn't want to find out that you left something important." Mr. Ward said as he pulled out his car keys. We walked outside and opened the trunk to the car. We quickly pulled out our backpacks and some smaller bags which we slung over our shoulder.

"Oh Sam, your mom sent this to me this morning. She said to give it to you before you left." Mrs. Ward handed me a small brown box. I ripped the tape off and opened the cardboard flaps.

"Yes! It's the phone I've been asking for!" I yelled excitedly. I quickly powered it on. To my dismay, I couldn't access anything. I couldn't go onto YouTube, Google, or the app store. I was able to go onto the text and call apps. When I went to the text app, there was a single message from my mom.

"Sam, I know that you have been wanting to get a cell phone. I thought that since you never seem to call, that I was time for you to have this. I heard from Jennifer that you had met up with her in Celadon City, so I sent this to her house. You may have noticed that you can't use anything aside from the call and text functions. We have your phone on a parent lock. If you want to use the other apps you will need to call us every night before you go to sleep for a week. We love you and miss you very much. Mom." I read out loud. "Leave it to my parents to let me have a phone that is so crippled that you can't look at the weather, just to coax me into calling them." I groaned.

"I think it was ingenious." Mrs. Ward said with a smile. Katlyn grinned at me and pulled out her own phone.

"At least my phone still works. I can get on YouTube, play games, and surf the net anytime I want." Katlyn teased.

"Shut up and come on. We don't have all day." I said grumpily. Katlyn quickly said her good-byes. She made sure to give everyone hugs.

We left the Jackson city limits in about twenty minutes. Katlyn nervously checked her phone in anticipation of a call from the three "siblings". I tried to ignore this, but after awhile of walking, I couldn't take it anymore.

"Will you put the phone away! It's not going to ring because you are staring at it!" I yelled as she began to peek at the screen.

"What's your problem? Why does it bother you?" she asked defensively.

"Nothing, but that phone of yours is driving me up the wall! There are plenty of other things you can do with your time besides staring at a phone that isn't even ringing!" I yelled.

"What is there for me to do? Please, enlighten me!" Katlyn yelled back.

"You could listen to some music. You could talk to Caleb. Heck you could talk to me!" I listed.

"Talk to you? That would be a total snooze fest! I would rather slam my head into a concrete wall than talk to you." she laughed harshly.

"You little brat!"

"You are an idiot!"

"Well, you are a wuss!"

"You are a spoiled little girl!"

"You are a moron!" Caleb, who was walking beside us, started to yip at us.

"Shut up Caleb!" Katlyn and I yelled in unison. Caleb's ears fell, and he backed off.

"As I was about to say. You are a bratty little college student that would be sent back to the second grade if you tried to go back!" I knew that I had crossed the line but it didn't matter. Katlyn stared at me in a mixture of disbelief and self-consciousness. She didn't say a single word. Instead, she just ran ahead. A tsunami of guilt washed me away. Caleb, growled at me and ran after her. I followed closely behind.

 **Caleb's POV**

"I can't believe you said that! You are a freaking idiot! _"_ I growled at Sam, as I chased after my sister. She wasn't to far ahead since she was so small.

"What do you want? Are you going to make fun of my age to?" Katlyn cried as she sat on an old log.

"No, I'm not here to make fun of you. Look, Sam was just irritated. He didn't mean anything he said. _"_ I comforted.

"Caleb, he is a big jerk! I didn't do anything to him and he just blows up at me!" she cried. I knew that she had her feelings hurt, but this was starting to get ridiculous.

'I really don't want to do this, but I need you to stop crying and get on with it. We are never going to get anywhere if you keep crying when you get your feelings hurt.' I grimaced. _"_ Katlyn just shut up. Don't even open your mouth until you hear what I have to say. You have been throwing the world's largest pity party since this whole thing began. You are way to emotional about this. At least you are still a human being. You need to stop letting snide remarks reduce you to a bundle of emotions. What Sam said wasn't right, but you shouldn't have exploded at him either. _"_ I waited for a reply but none came. _"_ Well? What do you have to say for yourself? _"_

"I-I don't know what to say." She muttered.

"That's not good enough! I want you to go back to Sam and apologize for what you did. You can't control what he does, but you can control what you do. If you don't go and apologize, then I am going to have to have to put a fire under your rear end!" I continued.

"Fine. I'll go apologize. Um, where is he?" She asked.

"I don't know. He was right behind me a minute ago. _"_ I said out of puzzlement.

"Let's go find him. He is the only reason we can be out here." Katlyn said.

'Man, talk about a change in attitude.' I thought as I trotted behind her.

We found Sam standing a little ways back. He wasn't doing anything, except standing there.

"Hey," he said as we approached him. "Look, I'm sorry for what I said earlier. I shouldn't have gotten so mad over something so stupid."

"Don't worry about it. I need to stop being so emotional. Caleb made that perfectly clear." Katlyn shot me a look.

"I was only being honest. Would you rather have me lie? _"_ I asked.

"Yes! You are so straightforward that you could be considered another plane of existence!" She said.

"That is just flat out rude. _"_ I snorted.

"Apparently, you don't think that when you are telling everyone else what they need to work on." Katlyn replied.

"One of these days, I will find out what you guys are talking about. This is killing me!" Sam exclaimed.

"Let's just keep walking." Katlyn said as she rolled her eyes.

 **Third Person POV**

Bio Lab 24 was very busy for the last few weeks. Dr. Mitchel spent most of the time trying to figure out how he could help his grandson. He decided that first he should build a device that could translate a Pokémon's brain waves into intelligible words and phrases one could understand. These types of devices had been created before, but they were always to big for a single person to carry. The smallest version of this device was built to fit inside the back of a small van. The device's size and outrageous expense caused it to be impractical at best. Mitchel, however, had a plan. He wanted to set up a sort of radio tower that would transmit the data to a headset. The Pokémon relaying the thoughts would be able to communicate through a chip at the base of the neck. The chip would then send the brain waves to a receiver on a tower. The tower would then discern what the data said and where it needed to go. Finally, the user of the headset would be able to hear and understand what was being said. It would be exactly how a cell tower handles. The delay between the thoughts and the recipient would be mere nanoseconds. All Mitchel had to do was convince Giovanni, that it would be useful in the field. Mitchel was sure that he could get it passed, especially since the mission concerning Katlyn Ward relied heavily on intelligence.

"Ok Kyle, I want you to be good while I go talk to my boss. And please don't touch anything. If you do, then I don't know what will happen." Mitchel's grandson nodded vigorously. Mitchel smiled a little before he walked out into the hallway. Mitchel walked through twisting corridors until he finally came across Giovanni's main office. He knocked twice and waited. A few minutes later, Giovanni invited Dr. Mitchel in.

"What brings you here on such a fine afternoon, Dr. Mitchel?" Giovanni asked with false curiosity.

"I have brought plans for a new device that will allow us to translate a Pokémon's brain waves into words and phrases we can understand. The device will work along the same principles as a cell phone tower. The device itself will be attached to a cell tower. Data being sent from a Pokémon will be sent to the transmitter which will then translate it. Unlike the devices we now have, the receiver will be the size of a small head set, and will be able to translate within the range of a standard cell tower." Mitchel explained as he laid several reports and schematics on the boss' desk.

"That is a very interesting plan. Have you already tested it?" Giovanni asked, sounding genuinely interested.

"We have run small scale tests and the device is entirely feasible." Mitchel replied.

"That actually could be useful. What about that other project I have you working on? I don't need to make another example, do I?"

"N-no, sir. I have been working extremely hard on the other project. Unfortunately, there is no way of combining the nano probes with human DNA. The two just aren't compatible. T-there is only one way we can get the human body to accept the nano probes. We would have to combine human DNA with that of an Eevee or one of its evolutions." Mitchel began to tremble, not out of fear but out of anger. Mitchel did his best not to show it. The only physical sign that he was angry was his clenched fists.

"I already said that I didn't want a bunch of freaks in my forces. I need people who can take more damage, but don't look to conspicuous." Giovanni growled.

"I remember Sir. I already found a way to suppress most if not all of the physical attributes. We can extract the genes that makes the DNA so unstable. However, there could be some side effects."

"And those would be?"

"Increased aggression, mental instability, heightened instinct, and the ability to use certain moves and abilities." Mitchel listed. Giovanni stared hard into Mitchel's eyes.

"Have you already begun the experiments?" he asked the scientist.

"No, these are only projections our computers are giving us. We won't know all of the side effects until we begin the trials." Mitchel replied.

"Very well. Begin your experiments. In the meantime, I will send your schematics into the Tech lab to see if it is a viable design and plan. You have done well today Dr. Mitchel. You are dismissed." Giovanni said with a pleased tone. Mitchel sighed, then walked out of the office.

 **Sam's POV**

"We finally made it!" I yelled out of pure exhaustion. Katlyn and Caleb were dragging behind me. We were all exhausted from the trip, and the fact that we argued for most of it didn't make things go any smoother. We quickly went inside the Pokémon center. It was a lot different than the big city centers. It was still spacious, but this one had a more country feel to it. I couldn't tell if it was the decor that made this seem so country-like or the fact that the center was literally a log cabin. At the moment, I didn't care. I went up to the reception area and asked the Nurse Joy here for a room. She happily gave us a key to one of the rooms and we took off.

The room we got was also quite spacious. We released all of our Pokémon and let them stretch their legs for a bit. I practically collapsed on to one of the beds.

"All I need right now is some peace and quiet." I mumbled mostly to myself.

"Wake me up when it's Christmas." Katlyn said sleepily. After that, the room fell completely silent. The silence continued for exactly thirty seconds before Katlyn's phone began to ring.

"For the love of all things living! Turn that off!" I yelled as my hopes getting to sleep faded away.

"I don't recognize the number." Katlyn said.

"Then reject it. I am tired. I don't want to listen to you talking on the phone all night." I groaned.

"Hello? Who is this? Emily! I have been waiting for you to call all day!" Katlyn exclaimed. Hearing Emily's name piqued my curiosity.

"Put it on speaker phone. I want to hear." I whispered. Katlyn placed her hand over the mic.

"You were the one who wanted me to turn off my phone. Now you want me let you listen in on my conversation? Go to bed. Better yet call your mom. She sent you that phone. Go use it." Katlyn whispered as she shooed me away.

"Fine, whatever. You had better tell me what they said when you are done." I said sternly. Katlyn rolled her eyes and continued with her conversation. I pulled out my sleek new smart phone and turned it on. I found that my parent's number was already on speed dial so I simply took the short cut. The phone rang once... twice... and a third time before the sweet sound of my mother's voice drifted through my ear.

"Hey Mom. What have you been up to?" I asked anxiously.

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As usual, I hope y'all enjoyed the chapter. I bet you can figure out why I picked today's quote. I would like to say thank you to DjairoH and SolLunaTerrax1 for following the story. I hoe you both enjoy what I have planned for the story. If you have anything to say be sure to leave a review or PM me. If you like the story be sure to smash that favorite/follow button. This is shieldliger001 signing off.


	31. Chapter 31

What's up guys, shield here. I was kind of surprised that I finished this so fast. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. It has come to my attention that some people have not read my new story A New Age. If you haven't, please go read it and tell me what you think. Also I am still looking for someone that could make a book cover for OMAA and ANA. Just PM me if anyone interested. On to the reviews!

Caitou zzzzzz: You hit the nail on the head. This was a major point I wanted to make. When something life changing happens in real life. No one will ever treat you the same again.

Monpoke: Yeah, I normally like to end it with one of the character's parting thoughts, but I thought the ending fit.

Philip Harbindinger: Thanks again for pointing that out. I am going to need to look harder for those. They always seem to be what messes me up.

* * *

 **A spy, like a writer, lives outside the mainstream population. He steals his experience through bribes and reconstructs it.**

 **John le Carre**

* * *

 **Chapter 31**

 **Katlyn's POV**

"So what did your parent's say?" I asked as Sam hung up.

"You are going to need to speak louder. I can't hear out of my left ear anymore." Sam replied as he massaged his ear a little.

"That bad, huh."

"What?"

"I asked if it was that bad." I said a little louder.

"I still can't hear you." Sam said with a shake of his head.

"I asked if it was that bad!" I yelled. Sam began to smirk.

"I heard you the first time." He laughed. I flushed a deep red. I picked up one of my shoes off the ground and aimed it at Sam. I threw it as hard as I could and pegged him directly in the forehead. He quickly stopped laughing and began to rub his head. He looked at me with fierce gaze.

"What was that for? It was just a joke." He said through gritted teeth.

"I ask you a serious question and all you can do is make me look like an idiot. Why do you think I would throw a shoe at you?" I asked rhetorically. "What did she say?" I asked again slowly.

"They really just griped at me for not calling them. That is basically all that happened. What about you? That call ended pretty fast." Sam asked.

"Emily just wanted to tell me that they will be in a small town called Aelhurst. It's not far from here. They said that it's about twenty miles from here and five miles from Aurelian City."

"You think that isn't far? We barely made seven miles today. It will be like three days before we get there." Sam protested.

"I know that. If you think about it, it's not that far away." I replied.

"All of these side trips are going to kill me. We are never going to make it to Aurelian City, much less Lavender Town, if you want to stop at everywhere these people tell you to stop." Sam complained.

"Sam, it's on the way. We stop, talk, get something to eat, and leave." I deadpanned.

"Whatever, I just need to go to bed. Goodnight."

"I going to go take a shower. Night." I replied.

 **Caleb's POV**

Katlyn went into the bathroom and closed the door. I was the only that hadn't exactly gone to sleep, so I was left in the dark with no one to talk to. I got up and walked to a small desk that stood next to the window. I quietly leaped up onto the window and peered outside. There was a full moon out tonight. The light made me think of all of the times I would look up at the sky and dream of the things that could be different in my life. I smiled a little at the irony. Here I am wishing I was back to normal when just a few months ago I was wishing for more excitement than just beating the league. I knew exactly how I was going to beat Brock. The plan was so simple that an amateur could do it. The fact was, that Lawrence and I were getting bored. Now I would do anything to get back my old self.

" _You really do think to deeply sometimes, you know that?"_ the voice of the kid Mew echoed.

'Could you just appear for once?' I thought. Kid Mew laughed.

" _If I did that, then you would technically find me. I wouldn't want to make it easy for you."_

'Meh, it was worth a try. I wouldn't find you. It would be more like you found me.'

" _I knew that you wanted me to make it easy for you!"_ kid Mew exclaimed.

'Wouldn't you want something like this to be easy if you were in my situation?' I asked.

" _I guess, but I don't have to worry about that. My mommy said that I could transform into whatever form_ _I_ _want. She said it was temporary but it would be lots of funny."_ kid Mew said excitedly. Kid Mew then sighed. _"I can't do it yet though."_

'You'll get there. Hopefully, when all of this is over, I will finally get to go to the Pokémon league.' I replied.

" _Mommy said that you are just like other humans. All you care about is fighting, and making Pokémon hurt each other."_ kid Mew mentally frowned.

'I don't fight because that's all I want to do. If Lawrence said he was tired of fighting, I wouldn't try to change his mind. We do it because it brings us closer together as a team. I've known him since we were both very little. He is a good friend and I would die for him. I hope that one day you and your mom understand.' I thought passionately.

" _I'm not good at reading people yet. I barely have this down, but I think you are telling the truth. I probably shouldn't tell you this but I think you deserve a little hint. You are heading the right direction, but you won't be for long. We are in a tall, scary place in someplace purple. Try to get there_ _within in two weeks_ _. If you don't get here, I'll leave you a clue to where you can find us next." kid Mew said playfully._

'Thanks, I am looking forward to meeting you in person.' I said thankfully.

" _You are different than what_ _M_ _ommy said. You better be ready though. I don't plan on letting you beat me easily. I can tell that you have gotten strong since the last time we talked, but you need to train harder. My mommy is teaching me everything she knows."_ kid Mew said warily.

"I'm sure she is. Don't worry I'll be ready to fight you. _"_ I chuckled.

" _I'll see you later then...What's your name again?"_

"I guess I never did tell you, it's Cal... _"_

"Caleb, who are you talking to, and what makes you think that you are fighting anyone. I promised Mom and Dad that I wouldn't let you fight."

" _It seems like you have some family matters to take care of. I'll talk to you later Cal."_ kid Mew said.

"My name isn't Cal, it's... Darn, I can't feel him anymore. _"_

"Caleb, who were you talking to?" Caleb asked in a serious tone.

"I was talking to Mew. _"_ I said nonchalantly.

"What? The Mew that got you into this mess?" Katlyn asked in horror.

"Yes and no. This Mew is the one that I was intending to help. His mom is the one that transformed me." I explained.

"So, what did he say?" Katlyn asked. Her seriousness made me tremble a bit. I felt as though I had done something wrong and was being called on it.

"He gave me a really obvious clue of where they are. He said that they are waiting in a tall scary place in Lavender Town. _"_ Katlyn's face brightened up significantly. _"_ The only place that I can think of that's like that is the Pokémon tower. If we get there in two weeks, we will be able to change me back! _"_

"Caleb! That's great! You will be back to normal again!" Katlyn hugged me tightly. Her wet hair made me feel slightly uncomfortable, and caused me to shiver.

"Katlyn, quiet down. We don't need to wake everyone up. _"_ I whispered.

"Oh, sorry. I just overreacted a little." she apologized.

"You better get some sleep. We will be having a long day tomorrow. We will more than likely be camping out tomorrow anyways, so you better get all of your good sleep in tonight. _"_ I suggested.

"Alright, but you better get some sleep to. And Caleb, you aren't fighting anyone. Nothing on this planet will be able to change that." Katlyn said before she laid down in her bed.

"You will realize that fighting will be the only way that I will get back to normal. _"_ I muttered as I found a spot to lay in. I looked up at my sister's bed and sighed. 'If only I could tell you everything.' I thought sadly.

 **Sam's POV**

The night was long, but the morning was longer. Nothing I did would keep me awake for more then a few minutes. It wasn't until Katlyn splashed cold water on my face that I had awoken completely. Normally I would have laid into Katlyn over this, but even I would have done the same thing if I could have. We had a quick breakfast, compliments of the Pokémon Center cafeteria.

As soon as we finished, we were on the move again. Katlyn told me everything that had happened to Caleb. I was thrilled about the news, but the 'two weeks' deadline had me worried. We would have to travel straight through with no breaks whatsoever, if we planned on making it on time. We only had two weeks and we had about fifty miles left to cover. It would take us about two days in order to reach Aelhurst and another day to reach Aurelian City. That was four days counting yesterday. Lavender Town was about the same distance from Aurelian as Saffron. It would be about eight days total in order to get there. That was only if they could travel the same lengths they had the day before. With Katlyn as young as she was, her stamina wouldn't be all that great. She would tire out faster. I am only three years old so my stamina won't be much better. Eight days was the minimum. It would most likely take longer. The maximum we could spend traveling was twelve days.

"I just don't see how this is going to work." I muttered as we walked.

We stopped four times in two hours. Each time was because Katlyn had gotten tired.

"Katlyn, we need to talk. There is just no way we can get there on time if we keep stopping. We can't even meet up with those three kids, because it will take to much time." I said in a serious tone.

"We have plenty of time. Don't worry so much. We still have another thirteen days before the deadline is up." Katlyn said cheerily.

"Katlyn we traveled about seven miles yesterday. We have another fifty to travel. Do the math and tell me that we have enough time." Katlyn's expression faltered. She looked down at Caleb, then back at me.

"We could try to catch a bus or something when we get to Aelhurst. That way we could get there faster." Katlyn suggested.

"We need to stay away from vehicles and major roads. Remember last time when the CPS picked us up? Their is someone after us." I said darkly.

"You're just paranoid. That was a one time thing." Katlyn replied with a wave of her hand.

"I know we are being followed. I found this in my bag yesterday." I pulled out a bag with a small chip about the size of a grain of rice in it. "I wouldn't have noticed this if I hadn't of felt it poking me the shoulder. I thought that it was a sand bur at first; instead, it was this. It was stuck in my left shoulder strap."

"How do you know what that is? It could be anything." Katlyn replied skeptically.

"My Dad is a cop remember? He has catalogs of different police equipment. He let me go through them and he taught me about all sorts of things. This is a Vinny MK III tracker. These are only supposed to be used by special units like the KIA and the DEA for catching people for drug trafficking and things like that. We both know that we aren't doing anything illegal, so that means that someone else is following us." I said

"We should call the police or something." Katlyn said. It was obvious that she was frightened.

"What would we tell them? We can't tell them the truth about you. If we gave them the trackers, they would think that we are being tracked by a government agency and hold us until they could prove otherwise. Trust me, it would take a lot longer then two weeks to get out. We would be talking about months."

"Then what do we do?" Katlyn asked. It was clear that she was scared. In a way, that was a good thing. She now understood the situation.

"We continue walking. Once we get into the woods, it will be almost impossible for anyone to track us. I'm sure that we aren't being followed by anyone that has any skill at tracking or else we would have been caught by now."

"You don't think they are after Caleb do you? Do you think that somebody knows about us? That we are going to see Mew?" Katlyn asked sincerely.

"That would be my guess, but there is no way anyone could know that. We haven't told anyone about that." I looked down at Marik. He seemed strangely fidgety and pawed at the ground as we talked. I looked back at Katlyn. Her eyes went suddenly wide.

"My dad said he called in a favor from the Champion. He said that he explained everything to him. What if that is how it got leaked? What if the champion is in on it?" Katlyn asked with a small gasp.

"I doubt that the champion would do anything like that, but it could have been how your secret was let out. Maybe someone in the government is helping one of those organizations!" I shouted in realization. I then shook my head. "We are starting to sound like the guys off of the X-files. Let's just keep walking, but first let me see your backpack. I'm going to make sure that there isn't one in your backpack." I took Katlyn's bag and began to feel around the straps. It didn't take long before I found a similar tracker in the right arm strap. I took the track and snapped it in half. I then did the same with the one in the bag.

 **Charles' POV**

'Crap, that's not good. I need to radio this in. Wait, if I do that, then I will lose them. It doesn't matter. We still have the mole in there we should be fine.' I thought as the two kids began to walk off.

I walked in the opposite direction and called in what had happened. The boss wasn't to happy, but he wasn't infuriated either. He told me to head back to base so I could receive a new assignment. I quickly retraced my steps through the forest and waited at the arranged rendezvous. After an hour of waiting, a car had pulled up and I got in.

The man that was driving didn't say much he took me to a clearing deeper in the forest. The clearing held a single unmarked helicopter that was common enough to be mistaken as a civilian craft. I quickly climbed on and the helicopter fired up.

The flight was, for the lack of a better term, boring. Flying in from basically Saffron City to Viridian City was about a forty-five minute flight. By car, it would have been about a six hour drive. After the base came within sight, we quickly descended onto one of the many landing pads. Giovanni, and some of the other top brass, was waiting by the landing pad. Giovanni's brown trench coat fluttered and flickered as the wind generated by the helicopter swirled about.

"Lieutenant Charles, it is nice to see you here again. Please, let us go inside and talk about your new assignment." the Rocket boss said as he waved for me to come inside. Once inside, Giovanni lead me to a large conference room. He motioned to a chair, which I gladly accepted. The other people he had brought took seats around the large conference table that sat in the middle of the room.

"Charles. May I call you Charles?" Giovanni started. I gave him a polite nod and Giovanni began once again. "As I was saying Charles, you are a very good asset to this organization. Your work since you've joined has been nothing but exemplary. Though we would have liked to have received a bit more data on the targets, your help has expanded our intelligence department by ten fold. You and Joshua Marik have made great strides, and I would like to personally thank you for that. Your next assignment will be quite simple. I want you to help Dr. Mitchel with his experiment. It will be quite painful, but I believe you will find that the gain will outweigh the cost. Once you have completed Dr. Mitchel's trials, you will be sent to Lavender Town with a team of men. You may choose this team. I will give you more details on your mission after you have finished Dr. Mitchel's experiments." Giovanni explained. His tone told me that there was no room for debate.

"Thank you sir. I will be sure to report to the doctor." I said nervously. Giovanni smiled deviously. He stood up and walked me to the door.

"I take it that you already know the way to the good doctor's lab?" Giovanni asked. I nodded. "Good, I will see you when you are ready for your mission." I saluted and Giovanni shut the door. Shivers raked through me like the freezing fingers of Death. I slowly made my way to the lab. Every step felt like I was trying to move an eighteen wheeler. Soon I was in front of the lab. I wouldn't have even knocked, but I knew that if I hadn't, a fate worst then some experiment awaited me. I knocked quietly at first, but it eventually grew loud enough to be heard down the hallway. A haggard, older man opened the door. He looked as though he hadn't slept in months.

"Come in Lieutenant Charles. We have much to do." he mumbled. I stepped in and the door shut behind us.

 **Caleb's POV**

We traveled mostly in silence. Katlyn and Sam jumped at every sound, causing the air to be filled with paranoia. I couldn't blame them. It was kind of scary knowing that there could be someone after us, but I didn't want to worry about it to much. I only wanted to think about getting back to normal. I would be able to compete in the league. My parents would be less restrictive. Best of all, I would be older then Katlyn. I wouldn't brag about it at first, but after a few months, when she finally accepts that she won't go back, I plan on having a little fun.

"Katlyn, it's getting late. Let's set up camp here and make some dinner." Sam said as we stopped in a small clearing.

"Ok. I'll get the sleeping bags unrolled and you can start a fire." Katlyn untied the sleeping bag hanging from her backpack and unrolled it. She then took Sam's and did the same.

"Katlyn, it didn't take you five seconds to do that. You can help me get some fire wood." Sam said once Katlyn had finished with the sleeping bags. Katlyn looked at Sam nervously.

"I-I c-can't go out t-there. It's, it's..." Katlyn stammered. Then it dawned on me. Katlyn had been acting strange ever since her incident in the forest. I thought she was just upset, but maybe it was something else. I smirked as an idea floated across my mind.

"You are afraid of the dark, aren't you? _"_ I asked smugly.

"I am not! I am to old to be afraid of the dark." She said boldly. She then added in a much quieter tone. "I just don't like it when the light goes away when we are out in the woods."

"Katlyn, that is being scared of the dark. How long has this been going on?" Sam asked curiously.

"On and off since we were in Pallet Town. One minute I will be in bed sleeping and the next I will wake up. I am so terrified that I can't get back to sleep again." Katlyn admitted.

"We need to watch that. If anything else begins to happen let me and Sam know. _"_ I said seriously.

"Alright, I will." Katlyn replied.

"What did he say?" Sam asked.

"I will tell you if anything weird happens." Katlyn simple replied.

"Okay?" Sam said questioningly. "I'll get the wood, Katlyn. You just stay here with Caleb." Katlyn nodded and Sam took off into the woods.

 **Sam's POV**

I found several large chunks of wood rather quickly. I guess I should have expected that much seeing as how we were in a forest. The night had turned cold and the wind lightly licked my face. I drew my jacket closer to me while I tried to maintain my grip on the wood.

"It is freezing out here." I complained to Marik. The electric cat nodded in agreement. We continued back to our campsite.

When we got back, Katlyn was already in her sleeping bag trying to stay warm. I quickly built the campfire and Caleb started a small blaze.

"It's a little colder out then I thought it would be. I think I'm going to have to set up my winter tent tonight." I said as the fire warmed up the air.

"Why didn't you do that to begin with?" Katlyn chattered. She was visibly shivering now, as was I.

"I didn't think that it would be this cold out tonight." I responded. I quickly got into my hiking bag and pulled out the small two man tent. The material it was made of kept the majority of the heat in, making it ideal for cold weather.

"While I set this up, you can heat up some water. Get some of those dehydrated meals out of my backpack." I instructed. Katlyn nodded and pulled out a small camping pot from my hiking bag. Since Katlyn is only seven, I ended up carrying most of the gear. She filled up the pot with some water we had gotten specifically for cooking. She then put the pot over the fire. As she finished the first part of her job, I was busy setting up the tent. I staked it down and pulled out the folded poles. I easily unfolded them and placed the first one through its respective place. I did the same with the second pole. In ten minutes, the tent was set up and I was placing our two sleeping bags inside. By now, the pot was at a good boil and Katlyn removed it from the fire.

"What do I do with these?" Katlyn asked as she opened one of the packages of the freeze dried food. "This stuff looks nasty. Is this supposed to be meat or is it a wood chip?"

"Don't be making fun of the food. That is a meatball you are holding. Once you put water into your bag, You shake it up. After a few minutes you'll have a perfectly good bag of Spaghetti and meatballs." I said. I was offended slight by Katlyn's response to the contents, but I figured that she had never had freeze dried food before. She did what I told her. After a few minutes of shaking the bag, I gave her a fork and she began to eat. She chewed slowly at first but she gradually increased.

"Wow! This stuff is really good!" she said as she took another large bite.

"Yep, we used to take these when I went camping with my dad and grandpa. They are light, easy to cook and taste great." I said as I began to eat my freeze dried meal.

"What one did you pick?" Katlyn asked inquisitively.

"This one is beef lasagna. It's my favorite." I replied cheerfully.

"Sam? Aren't you worried about us being followed?" Katlyn asked. She stared at me intently.

"Yeah, but I'm not going to let that stop me from enjoying myself. If the time comes and we do find the ones that are following us. I will make sure that you and Caleb are ok. You can trust me. I will protect you even if it's the last thing I can do on this earth. You better finish eating. We need to get our sleep."

"Thanks Sam." We went back to eating our dinners. After a few more minutes, we finished up and went to bed.

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I hope y'all enjoyed the chapter. I actually had someone ask me if this story is based off the anime or the manga. It's based off of both. I have been taking elements from both for this story. If you have anything to say, you know what to do. If you are enjoying the story, be sure to smash that favorite/follow button. This is shieldliger001 signing off.


	32. Chapter 32

Hey guys, shield here. I have decided to post two chapters of OMAA then one chapter of ANA. I found that I can write better on OMAA if I take small breaks from it. Anyways, as always, I hope you enjoy the chapter. On to the reviews.

Monpoke: I'm glad that I can help. I hope that I can continue to help through my writing. Thanks.

SoraTheUmbreon94: Thanks I always find it encouraging when you guys review like this. I wanted the story to resemble real life in the way that life is filled with both happy and sad moments.

Philip Harbindinger: thanks for letting me know. One cool thing though is that we started a freeze-dried food business. It is really taking off.

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 **All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another.**

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 **Chapter 32**

 **Caleb's POV**

The Pokémon center in Aelhurst was as empty as could be. Like most towns on this side of Kanto, it didn't have a Pokémon gym. Because of this, the town's Pokémon center was very small. The only gym near here was the new one that had just opened in Aurelian City. Lavender Town was rumored to be getting a Pokémon gym, but it has yet to happen. After the first night of camping, we couldn't stop thinking about the warm bunks of the Pokémon center. We arrived here sometime last night. We could see the lights of the town so we made the extra push to get here.

"When are we leaving? _"_ I asked impatiently. Katlyn was laying on her back. Her things had already been packed, so she took the time to rest a bit longer. She looked at me, then covered her eyes with her arm.

"I have no clue. I thought that we were leaving as soon as we got up, but Sam left as soon as he got dressed." she replied.

"Well, no kidding. Thanks for telling me Captain Obvious. _"_ I replied sarcastically.

"You were the one who asked." Katlyn retorted.

"I realize that, but seeing as how I was awake when he left, you didn't need to tell me about Sam leaving. _"_

"I guess that's true."

A few minutes later, the door opened. Sam stood in the doorframe with three visitors.

"Hey Katlyn, long time no see." the tallest visitor greeted.

"Austin, what are you doing here?" Katlyn asked in surprise.

"We were also staying here and we ran into Sam in the hallway." Austin explained.

"I didn't know that you knew Sam." Katlyn said.

"We don't. Austin acted on a hunch. For once his hunch was correct." the smaller boy said.

"Hey, I'm not always wrong." Austin replied. "Why don't you play with your toy, Devin."

"I don't play with toys, I'm nineteen not five." the five-year-old huffed.

"You play with that toy of yours all of the time. Don't try to deny it." the girl said.

" _Emily_! You are supposed to back me up." Devin whined.

"Hey, it's the truth." Emily shrugged. Devin crossed his arms and began to pout.

"Anyways, what are you guys doing here?" Katlyn asked.

"We came here because we are going with you to Lavender Town." Austin replied.

"What?" Katlyn asked in mild surprise.

"Yeah, you see, this is the only way we get home." Devin said.

"I said they could tag along. Since you were so adamant about meeting these three, I figured you wouldn't mind to much." Sam spoke up.

"I don't mind one bit. If you guys are coming with us, you might as well meet the rest of the team." Katlyn opened up her Pokéballs and everyone appeared.

"The Jolteon is Zan. The Arbok is Basilisk. Jack is the Pichu, and the other Vulpix is Lawrence." Katlyn said.

Everyone looked at the three newcomers.

"Who are they?" Lawrence asked.

"This is Austin, Devin, and Emily." Katlyn replied as she pointed to each of the three kids. "They are going to come with us to Lavender Town."

" _Why? How could they possible know what we are doing. If you told them, they must be insane for believing you."_ Zan questioned skeptically. Looking at the three kids, it was obvious that they were shocked. Their eyes were wide open and they were staring at Zan. Zan smirked. _"What? Never heard a Jolteon use telepathy before?"_

"H-how is he doing that?" Devin asked. He subconsciously scooted behind Austin in an attempt to hide.

"Devin, there is nothing to be scared of. It isn't uncommon for a Pokémon to learn a move of a different type." Austin explained coolly.

"He's right, but that's not why Zan is using telepathy. In fact, Zan doesn't even know a psychic type move." Katlyn said with a smile.

"Then how did he learn to do that?" Devin asked in a still voice.

"I'm not sure. He won't tell me. It's kind of annoying." Katlyn admitted.

"How did you do learn to do that? _"_ I asked the larger Jolteon.

" _I can't tell you bud."_ the electric type winked.

"Gee, thanks." I replied as I rolled my eyes. Jack laughed a little.

"We better go. We still need to get to Lavender Town within the next four days." Sam reminded.

"Alright, alright. We heard. Sorry guys but we are kind of in a hurry." Katlyn apologized as she placed everyone back inside their Pokéball. Sam picked up his hiking bag and we all left the room. Sam turned in the room key to the reception desk and we all headed out the door.

 **Mitchel's POV**

I looked at the lieutenant with weary eyes. The man had been through a lot in the last few days, and his body was showing the toll. Sweat was pouring off his body. I sighed as I looked at my sleeping grandson. He to had been through a lot. He lay peacefully on an old blanket I had set aside for him. I turned back to my monitors in an attempt to complete some research on the Ninetales myths. I was disheartened by every source I found. Every single one had said that the Ninetales curse is only lifted at the end of the sentence or by the Ninetales having some change of heart. The Ninetales that had cursed my grandson did not look like it would have a change of heart when it was licking its chops as soon as he saw my grandson's transformation. I looked back at the lieutenant's monitors.

"I hope that I can get out of this mess, one of these days." I said out loud as I went about getting ready for the next phase of the experiment.

 **Charles' POV**

"Charles take the one on the left. I'll take the one on the right." my commanding officer whispered as we cam across our objective. I brandished my M16 nervously. The guards in the tower were pacing back and forth tiredly. I raised my rifle and took aim. My night vision goggles made the man I was about to shoot, ghostly in appearance. I began to have second thoughts, but my commanding officer cut through my doubts and I lightly stroked the trigger. Three 5.56 rounds silently popped out of my gun's barrel suppressor and dropped the guard once and for all. Me and my team made our way up to the tower. I climbed up the ladder and into the tower. Both guards lay dead in the floor. I opened a door that took me into the single tiny room that served as the tower's security room. It only contained two computer monitors and an old desktop. I quickly began to type and embed a code that would disable the security cameras of the entire installation. Once I was done, I climbed back down and reunited with my unit.

"Ok men, the service hatch is thirty yards south of here. Alpha team will head there and create a diversion. Bravo team will follow me and Charlie into the main facility and start the data download and wipe." my commander whispered. Alpha team immediately took off towards their objective. I followed my team leader into another entrance. It was obvious when Bravo had started because the entire facility erupted in alarms. We easily managed to slip past the enemy troops for several minutes. We made it to the mainframe we were meant to access. Alpha team set to work.

"Hurry up guys, they are going to catch on soon." I whispered. That was when hell broke loose. Armed with sub machine guns, Three enemy techs had rushed into the room. They had realized that somebody was accessing their system and came to put a stop to it. I raised my rifle and flicked the gun to automatic. I mowed down two of the techs fairly quickly. My CO took down the other one.

"Sir, we have finished the download and wipe!"

"Good, lets get out of here!" the CO ordered. We ran back the way we came, but when we got out into the open, thirty to forty enemy combatants had surrounded the exit.

"Concussion out!" the CO yelled as he threw the non lethal grenade. A bright flash caused many of the enemy soldiers to scream in agony as their eyes burned from the brightness.

"Go Charles take the data! We will hold them off for as long as we can!"

"But commander! You won't be able to escape!" I argued.

"That data is more important then any of our lives! Get out of here and go get that back to our people! That's an order!" I nodded and ran. I don't know how but I made it through the enemy lines without any trouble. I then looked back. My CO was smiling at me when he saw that I had made it through and was alive. Then his face twisted in agony as a bullet shot through his neck. He grabbed his throat in a futile effort to stanch the bleeding.

"John! No! You... you killed him. You killed my brother!" I shouted. The nearest soldier was ten feet away. I jumped at him and brought him down with my combat knife. A few more saw me, but I mowed them down with my assault rifle. The two men from alpha squad made a break towards me. There was still about twenty five enemy soldiers still shooting. The others were either dead or dying. The first one reached me in seconds but the second was mowed down by several soldiers with MP5s.

"Charles! We need to go! Run now!" the first man yelled. He turned around and began to shoot. You run or I will kill you and get that data to HQ myself, soldier. I jumped to my feet and ran. Looking back as I ran, the soldier took four bullets to the chest. He flew backwards and landed against a tree.

 **Mitchel's POV**

"Somebody get me 20 cc of Fosphenytoin! Now!" I demanded. Charles was lying on his bed convulsing rapidly. One of my assistants handed me a needle and I injected it into Charles' vein. A few seconds later his body began to calm.

"Where did that come from?" one of my assistants asked.

"He was a member of the Black Ops. He may be suffering from PTSD." my other assistant replied.

'No, this is something else.' I thought. I looked at the man in front of me with fascination. 'What are you doing here? You should be living like a normal kid. You shouldn't be here with all of this rabble.'

 **Sam's POV**

Austin was just a year older than me. Well, physically anyway. He had a lot of interesting stories about his home and how different their version of Earth is compared to ours. It was strange to hear how similar it was also. We had a lot of the same moves, games, and books. Many of the books, games, and movies had Pokémon in it instead of the weird creatures he mentioned, but some books and games had the same animals he described. We talked for so long that we had nearly forgotten that we were walking. When I looked over at Katlyn, I noticed that she was having a similar conversation with Emily. Devin on the other hand, was quiet. There was no one he could talk to so he just walked. I noticed that he had a Growlithe plushie in his hands.

"If he is as old as he say he is, why is he carrying that stuffed animal around?" I whispered to Austin.

"He has a mindset of a nineteen-year-old, but he has five-year-old tendencies. We got that for him a while back because he couldn't sleep." Austin replied in a barely audible whisper. I nodded in response.

"That makes sense, kind of." I whispered back.

"I can hear what you are talking about." Devin spoke up. Austin and I looked at Devin out of shock.

"How did you hear me? He could barely hear me." Austin asked.

"I heard what he asked. I assumed that you would answer with the whole tendencies thing. You are so predictable that it's not even funny." Devin muttered.

"Devin, look, he was just curious. He didn't mean anything by it. Right Sam?"

"Yeah I was just curious." I replied. Devin didn't say anything and looked down at the toy that he carried. He then casually tossed it on the ground and continued to walk.

"I think he overreacted a little bit." I said.

"He tends to get this way from time to time. This is one of the moments when his older side is in more control." Austin bent down and picked up the toy. "He will be missing this in a few hours. It takes time for his childish side to take hold again."

"So he knows who he is even when he is acting like a little kid?" I asked.

"Yep. At first he would try to suppress it, but with every passing day he would be a little more childish each day. How is Katlyn? Has she shone any signs like that?"

"Not that I know of. Although she has been saying that she sometimes gets scared of the dark."

"She must still be in the early stages. It varies from person to person."

"What do you mean?" I asked quizzically.

"Well, for Devin, it was a matter of days. Emily has started to show some small signs, but otherwise she is fine. I haven't had any signs whatsoever. Although, my age didn't change as much as Devin and Emily's." Austin explained.

"Oh, ok." Austin began to explain things in more detail. A lot of the information was crazy, almost impossible to believe. We continued to talk for a few more minutes; then we walked in silence.

 **Katlyn's POV**

Devin blew past us as if we weren't even there. He seemed to be crying so Emily and I took off after him. The young boy had found one of the many check marks that dotted the trainer route we were on. He was sitting on a bench crying. Emily sighed.

"That's my boyfriend for you. He has been like that for the last few months or so." Emily explained. She walked up to the bench and sat down. She gave Devin a hug and began to rub his back in order to make him calm down. It seemed to work as his crying became blubbering; then went to sniffling.

"What's wrong? Why did you just go running through here like a speed demon?" Emily asked soothingly.

"It's because of those two back there. Austin wouldn't keep his mouth shut about what's been going on with me. He keeps announcing it to the world." He whimpered. I sat down next to the tyke.

"Hey, don't worry about it. He wasn't trying to hurt your feelings. He was just trying to inform Sam about the situation." I comforted.

"What would you know? The only thing you know is that we are all in the same boat." Devin shot back.

"I may not know much about you, but I do know that you were an older brother that switched places with your younger brother. I know that it's hard. I have had to deal with that same thing ever since I had to meet up with my mom in Fort Trell. You are tired of being treated like something that you aren't. Right?" I peered deep into the redhead's deep green eyes.

"Your mom was doing that to you? That sucks. How did you talk her into letting you leave?" the young boy asked.

"She and I knew of this place that can change me back to my normal self. She knew that Sam would help me every step of the way so she knew that she could let me leave." I replied.

"Katlyn, that place you are going to..." Devin began, but he was quickly cut off by Emily.

"It will be a really awesome place to see. I'm sure of it."

"Thanks Emily. Are you feeling better now, Devin?" I asked.

"Yeah, I guess so. Can we run ahead, or do we have to wait for Sam and Austin?"

"We should wait for the other two. We don't need either of them freaking out just because we want to keep moving." I replied. We stayed seated on the bench and waited for the two boys to catch up.

 **Mitchel's POV**

 _It has been several hours since Lieutenant Charles seizure. His body is taking the treatment better than expected. There have been some small physical side effects caused by the treatment, but nothing that cannot be fixed. We will continue to monitor his progress and will report when he has completed the first trial._ I placed my pen on the desk and looked at the man behind me. He shivered relentlessly, and sweat covered him from head to toe. The cylinder chamber he was in kept him from feeling the horrendous pain he would be feeling has his body fought to accept the foreign DNA.

 _According to the computer readouts, the process is nearing fifty percent completion. Once at one hundred percent, we will begin phase two. The lieutenant's brain readings indicate that the Lieutenant is experiencing a dream that, to him, is almost life-like. The scans indicate that his brain is picking up sounds, smells, feeling, taste, and sight. This could be the brain trying to cope with the genetic changes. I will continue observations._

 **Caleb's POV**

"Argh, I'm so bored." I complained.

"You are always bored. Why don't you try going to sleep or something?" Lawrence yawned as he lay on one of the beds in the room.

"Why did Katlyn just leave us here? I'm not just some pet that she can leave around whenever she pleases." I huffed.

"Whatever you say. You just don't want to watch him." Lawrence shrugged. I looked up at the other bunk bed. Devin laid on the bed sleeping. He had begun to wear out when we got close to the city so as soon as we had made it to the nearest hotel, we stopped and got a room. Katlyn, Emily, Sam, and Austin then decided to go get some things to eat and left me and Lawrence here in order to watch the five-year-old. Over course Katlyn took Zan, Jack and Basil, so me and Lawrence really didn't have much we could do. Sure we talked, but he knew all of my stories and I knew all of his stories.

"Why don't we try to get out of here and go outside? We are on the ground floor so we could go out through the window." I suggested.

"Nope." Lawrence replied firmly.

"What? Why?" I asked.

"Because. We are supposed to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid. We aren't supposed to be doing stupid things ourselves." Lawrence replied quickly.

"That wouldn't have stopped you before."

"Well things are different now."

"How are things different? It's just you and me, no parents, no sisters. We should just go have a good time." I said.

"Caleb, I've been thinking. Ever since you told me about what my mom did to Katlyn, things have been different. You have done something I never thought you would have done. You fed your sister a pot of lies. You tell me it's for the best; that it will work out in the end. You have been nothing but childish ever since that day. In a way, I think it is fitting that Katlyn has been slowly treating you differently." Lawrence looked at me deeply. "If you don't have anything to say, lay down and go to sleep."

"Ok. Fine." I muttered. I curled up and fell asleep.

 **Devin's POV**

'Good they are asleep. Now I can get out of here.' I thought. I quietly climbed out of bed and put my shoes on. I snuck to the door and opened it quietly. I stepped out into the well lit hall and closed the door behind me. 'Where is that vending machine? I could have sworn that it was down here somewhere.' I searched the hallway for the nook that contained the elevators. I searched and searched, but the vending machine was nowhere to be found. 'Maybe there is one in the lobby. That is always a place where they seem to want to take your money.' I raced through the halls and finally came across the savior of my falling blood sugar. I quickly reached into my pocket and pulled out the money required to get me my sugary treat.

"Crap, I can't reach." I muttered. I looked around for something to stand on, but couldn't find anything. I hung my head and began to head back to the room, but a large hand stopped me.

"Where are your parents, little boy?" one of the bellboys asked.

'Crap, this won't end well.' I cringed.

 **Caleb's POV**

"Lawrence! Lawrence, wake up! _"_ I yelled frantically.

"What do want Caleb? It better be important. _"_ Lawrence yawned.

"I think that the fact that Devin isn't in his bed, is important! _"_ I yelled. Lawrence shot straight out of his sleepiness and jumped to the floor.

"How did he get out of here without waking us up? He is a little kid. Little kids are never quiet. _"_

"I don't know. When I woke up to get a drink, I looked at his bed and he wasn't in it. I went into the bathroom but he was nowhere to be seen. _"_ I recounted.

"Come on, we need to go look around. If the others get back and find that he was missing, they would kill us. _"_ Lawrence said.

"We may have one slight problem. Neither of us can reach the door knob. _"_ I pointed out.

"I hate being small. _"_ Lawrence muttered. _"_ Ok, can you pull that chair over here? _"_

"Oh sure, let me carry a forklift on my back while I'm at it. _"_ I said sarcastically.

"Hardy har har. Just get me that chair. _"_

"What good would that do? The door opens in. We wouldn't be able to get the door open with the chair in the way. _"_ I pointed out.

"Caleb, stand back. I am not good at this move so I don't know what is going to happen. _"_ Lawrence warned.

"Please tell me you are going to use that move. The whole reason you never used it was because you did more property damage then a guy driving a tank through a Porsche dealership. _"_ I said as a chill went up my spine.

"Extrasensory is my only psychic type move that I know. If my mom can use it to open doors and things, why can't I? _"_

"Didn't you just hear what I said about a tank driving through a Porsche dealership? _"_ I asked.

"Yeah, I heard you. Just stand back, I don't want you getting hurt. _"_ I ran under the bed and watched as Lawrence began to concentrate. His eyes turned a light purple as did the door. The handle joggled up and down rapidly. I was surprised when the door opened without flying off the hinges.

"I told you that I could do it. _"_ Lawrence beamed.

"Congratulate yourself later. We need to find Devin. _"_ I replied.

The hallways were completely clear. There was not a soul to be seen nor a sound to be heard. I began to worry more and more as we spent more time searching. Eventually we came upon the lobby where a snoring Herdier lay in a far corner.

"Did you see a kid come through here? He is about five with red hair. _"_ I asked the sleeping dog. He whined slightly as he rolled over to avoid my question. _"_ Excuse me, but did you see a boy come... _"_

"Yes, I saw him. One of the attendants took him back to the office. Now leave me alone, runt. _"_ the dog replied gruffly.

"Ok thanks. _"_ I muttered. The Herdier just huffed and went back to snoozing.

"He seemed like a cheerful fellow. _"_ Lawrence joked.

"I've met criminals with better attitudes than what he has. _"_ I muttered.

"You have not. You have never met anyone who has broken the law. _"_ Lawrence argued.

"Yes I have. Remember back in Vermillion? _"_

"That guy wasn't even a criminal. He was an actor for that new move coming out in January. _"_ Lawrence replied smugly.

"Whatever. Let's just find the kid and get back to the room. _"_

"Coming from the five month old. _"_ Lawrence laughed.

"Shut up! _"_ I yelled.

"Alright, alright. You don't need to yell. _"_ Lawrence said defensively.

"Just come on! _"_

 **Devin's POV**

The bellboy took me into a back office and handed me a coloring book. I wanted to rip it into a million pieces, but I didn't need any extra grief at the moment. The bellboy left the office and shut the door behind him. I got up out of the chair and stumbled over to the door. I cracked it just a little and peeked into the passageway. I took a step outside and closed the office door. The hallway was clear so I silently crept away. I rounded a corner and came face to face with the same bellboy.

"I thought I told you to stay in that office. You don't need to sneak off again. We will find your parents soon." the bellboy led me back into the office. Once again, he left, but this time he locked the door. The lock was one of those old timey locks that locked on both sides so I couldn't get out even if I wanted to.

"I should have stayed in the room." I muttered to myself.

 **Lawrence's POV**

"Did you see that? That guy locked him in that room. _"_ Caleb whispered.

"I saw it. Ok, here is the plan. That guy has the key on his belt. You distract him while I get the key. Don't let him chase you though or I might not be able to get the key."

"Sounds good. Let's get him!" Caleb whispered excitedly.

"Don't you think that you are getting a little to excited about this?" I asked worriedly.

"No, why do you ask?" Caleb asked curiously.

"Oh, no reason." I shrugged. _"_ Just get going. _"_ Caleb nodded then headed down the hallway. The bellboy had set up a chair and was now reading a newspaper. He didn't notice Caleb until Caleb began to make whining noises. The man looked over his paper to see Caleb sitting in front of him. I took my place behind the chair and tried to reach for the small hook of keys around the man's belt.

"How did you get in here?" the man asked curiously. He reached down and stroked Caleb's head. With him bent down, it made it a lot easier to reach the keys. I snagged the loop, but realized that there was no way to get the keys without ripping them from the man's belt loop. I tugged as hard as I could and the belt loop finally gave way. I fell on my back with the keys in my mouth. Caleb dashed passed me like lightning.

"Run! _"_ he yelled. I looked up to see a very angry looking man towering above me.

"Give me those keys back you little runt!" the bellboy yelled as he lunged at me. I jumped back and the man fell on his face. I scrambled to get away. The man quickly got up and began to chase after me. I rounded the corner and found Caleb waiting for me.

"I'm going to lure the guy away you find a way to open the door. _"_ I didn't wait for a response as I dropped the keys and took off. The bellboy continued his chase after me, while Caleb took the keys.

 **Caleb's POV**

I picked up the keys and ran back to the office door. I looked up at the key hole and quickly figured out that the door would not be requiring any of the modern keys on the ring. I examined the door thoroughly but could not find a plausible way to reach the key hole. 'I'm never going to live this down if anyone finds out about this.' I thought as I began to make whining sounds. The quiet shuffle of feet told me my plan had worked.

"Lawrence? Caleb? Is that you out there?" Devin's small voice asked through the door. I yipped as conformation. "Hurry up and get me out of here." the boy replied.

"I'm trying to you idiot. _"_ I muttered to myself. I looked at the door and noticed that there was enough room under the door to slide the keys under. I slid them under and heard them clank against something.

"Good job. Let me get this door open then we can head back to our room." A few seconds later, the door opened and Devin stepped out. He picked me up despite my protests and rushed back to our room.

When we reached the room, Lawrence had already lost the bellboy somewhere on the fifth floor. Devin opened the door and we all stepped inside. Devin locked it and turned around with a sigh.

"Don't tell the others what happened, alright?" he said as he wiped his brow.

"Don't tell us what? The fact that you have caused problems throughout the hotel or the fact that you two let Devin out of your sight." We jumped at the sound of the voice.

"H-hey Austin. W-what's u-up?" Devin asked nervously.

"Devin, Lawrence, and Caleb, we have a lot to talk about before you three go to bed." Austin replied. Three more shapes emerged from behind Austin. Katlyn was staring at me coldly and Sam looked at Lawrence like a hawk.

"This isn't going to be good. _"_ I said quietly.

"No, it won't Caleb." Katlyn replied tersely.

* * *

I hope you all enjoyed the story. Thanks for all of the support you have shown. If you want to review you know what to do. If you like the story be sure to smash that favorite/follow button. This is shieldliger001 signing off.


	33. Chapter 33

Hey guys, shield here. I hope everyone is having a merry Christmas. I hope y'all enjoy this chapter and be sure to let me know what y'all think. On to the reviews!

Monpoke: Thanks for all of the reviews and help you have given me. Looking back I definitely see what you mean. I hope you continue to enjoy the story.

Philip Harbindinger: I was wanting to do something a little different and I am glad that you enjoyed it.

Caitou zzzzzz: I definitely see what you mean. Caleb has lost so much on this journey and now he is losing his place as a human being. His best friend sees him little more as a little kid. However, I think that this chapter will prove to be a little more hopeful in Caleb's predicament. I wouldn't say that Devin is regressed mentally since he still has a lot of his old mentality, but I see what you mean. If Katlyn loses hope, than she would give up all together.

Rayrudan: Hey long time no hear. I was temped to make the ending something similar to what you said, but I thought up a different ending.

* * *

 **Hope is like the sun, which, as we journey toward it, casts the shadow of our burden behind us.**

 **Samuel Smiles**

* * *

 **Chapter 33**

 **Caleb's POV**

"What were you two thinking! You had one single job. To make sure he doesn't do anything stupid! That was all you had to do!" I cringed as Katlyn yelled. Her words stung like tiny droplets of water on my skin.

"We thought he was asleep. We didn't know that he was faking. _"_ I respond quietly.

"That is no excuse! Austin specifically said that he has done that before! He warned you and you still screwed it all up!" I sat there quietly. Lawrence began to say something but he thought better of it. "Do either of you have anything to say?"

"I just want to know what you were thinking. You of all people know the stakes if you get caught." Austin said calmly.

"I was hungry. I saw a vending machine and wanted to get something. That is all there is to it." Devin replied as he crossed his arms defiantly.

"You were hungry? I told you that we were bringing something back! What you did could have gotten us all caught! What if you couldn't get away from that guy? I would have to go to them and try to get you back. They would most likely call the CPS and take you! What would you do then? Stay here the rest of your life? How do you think Emily and I would feel if we could never see you again!" Austin yelled. His face had gone from pale to deep red within seconds. All signs of calm had left him. Devin stared at him. He wasn't staring at him as much as he was staring through him. It was as if he had shut out all sight and sound. "Are you even listening to me?"

"No, I'm not, because we both know that a few months ago, you would have acted the exact same way. You always ignored what I told you. Sure some of it was me being selfish, but I told you to do things that would actually help you and you threw it back in my face!" Devin yelled. He stood up as tall as he could against his brother. Even on the edge of his toes he only reached his brother's chin, but it didn't stop the raging fire in his eyes. For the first time since everyone had gotten back, the room was bathed in silence. Austin sat down on one of the bunk beds.

"I never listened to you because you always teased me. You never seemed to care about me. When all of this started, I just wanted to show that I cared for you." Austin whispered. Once again the room was silent. Everyone seemed to loose the urge to argue.

"I think we all need to call it a night. _"_ I suggested, hoping that everyone would forget about what had happened.

"Oh, no. We still need to come up with a punishment for you three." Sam said before we could hurry away.

"Darn it!" Devin sighed.

"You aren't allowed out of my sight. You will not be allowed to do anything without my say so." Austin said.

"As for you two. Lawrence, you will not be allowed to battle until we make it to Lavender Town. Caleb… I honestly can't think of anything for you." Katlyn said with a puzzled look.

"Maybe you should just forget about it. In a few days, I will be back to normal anyways." I suggested quietly.

"Nope, I'll just think of something later." Katlyn said. She then added. "For now just get to bed."

It wasn't long till everyone had gone to bed. I curled up on the desk and stared out the window. Despite the terrible ending, it was a peaceful night. The moon watched quietly over the building and bathed it in light. I closed my eyes in an attempt to go to sleep, but my mind was still active. I replayed different scenarios in my head of what could happen. I felt like I was on the verge of Christmas vacation but the days seemed to stretch longer and longer.

'I will change back.' I vowed to myself. I closed my eyes and eventually fell asleep.

 **Sam's POV**

After the incident at the hotel, the rest of the trip was pretty boring. We racked up a little cash through battling the few trainers we came across. I had no idea that being a trainer could be so boring. Of course this is the dead zone for Pokémon gyms. Aside from the new one in Aurelian city, there really aren't any gyms in this part of Kanto. No gyms meant very few trainers. We approached the city limits of Lavender Town near midday. We had gotten there a little early so we decided that we should check out the town. We saw the few sights there were to see and we checked into the local Pokémon center. Caleb was extremely excited about the prospects of becoming human again and bugged us constantly about it ever since we arrived. We decided to oblige him. After all he was the entire reason we were here.

The tower stood in the southeast corner of town. It was a looming building that extended over ten stories tall. The front entrances were just two plain, large, wood doors. I opened them and we all walked inside.

The first floor was well lit. There were a few people here and there paying their respect to the countless graves that made up the first floor.

"This place isn't as creepy as I thought it would be." Devin said as he looked around in wonder.

"Don't worry, it gets plenty creepy the higher up you go." I said as I led everyone to the spiral staircase. "I came here when my mom's Pokémon died. We went up to the fifth floor. Every single shadow seemed to move on its own."

"Thanks, now I am going to have to watch my back." Devin mumbled.

"This was one of the coolest places you could visit in Pokémon Yellow. I can't believe I'm actually here!" Austin said excitedly.

"You are the only person in the world who would think it is cool to visit a graveyard." Emily said as she shook her head.

"Let's just get off this subject. I'm going to release Zan so he can give us some light when we get higher into the tower." Katlyn said as she released the Jolteon.

"Why not use Lawrence or Caleb?" Devin asked.

"For one Lawrence is still in trouble. Two, Caleb is my brother. He isn't some robot made to do my bidding." Katlyn replied. Caleb yipped in agreement. "Zan we may need you pretty soon so keep your eyes open." Zan glared at Katlyn with his one good eye. "Right, you need a psychic. Go, Lawrence." Lawrence appeared and looked around. His tails instantly went between his legs and his ears laid flat against his skull. Lawrence began to whimper.

"Is he talking or what?" I asked once the Vulpix had finished whimpering.

"He said that he hates this place and would rather go back inside the Pokéball." Katlyn replied. "Lawrence, deal with it. Just stay close to everyone and you will be fine."

"I kind of feel bad for him." Emily muttered. She held Brand tightly. The little Cyndaquil snuggled up against her in return.

"Why don't we use Brand or Lawrence to light the place? They are both out already." Austin asked as we walked.

"Because they would both be out of breathe before we reached the top. They don't have flames like a Charmander." I explained.

"Then why would Zan be a good solution? He doesn't have any of that." Devin asked.

"Zan's static electricity glows when he hasn't used it in a while. Since he only battled once last week he should have quite a bit of energy left over." I explained.

"Argh, I'm still confused! Forget that I said anything." Devin said in frustration.

"Come on guys we have a ways to go before we reach the top." I said.

" _What are you idiots doing!"_ Zan shouted. He was extremely agitated and looked as though he was ready to shock somebody.

"We are going to the top of the tower to change Caleb back. What else would we be doing?" Katlyn asked.

" _This is a cemetery! Mew would never be in a place like this! It is disrespectful to play games in a place filled with the dead!"_ the Jolteon yelled angrily.

"That kid of Mew's said they would be in a tall dark place. The only tall dark place in Lavender Town is here." Katlyn said.

" _I can't accept that. Mew would never be so disrespectful towards the dead. You have got it wrong!"_ Zan denied. Caleb walked over to Zan and began to yip and yelp.

" _I-I see. Then we must go to the top. I still don't like it, but if that is what you heard then it must be true."_ Zan said quietly. It was obvious that he was pained by what Caleb had said, but he trudged on.

The first few floors were very well lit. However, the higher we went, the darker it got. We started hearing things moving so we were constantly on edge. At one point, Caleb yelped and jumped up into Katlyn's arms. She caught him and looked around nervously. Even I was beginning to experience the heaviness and gloom of the building. It was everywhere. By the time we made it to the seventh floor, we were all ready to call it quits, including Caleb. Against our better judgment, we trudged on. When we made it to the eighth floor, the screeching started. Horrendous unending screeching filled my very head. Then the shadows began to jump out at us. Zan was quaking tremendously and allowed several bolts of electricity to fly from his fur coat. They shot in several different directions, but it didn't impact the screeching at all. After Zan's light show, something jumped out at us. Emily and Devin had started running back the way we came, with me and Katlyn following. I didn't look back. Whatever the attacker was, I was not going to face it. We didn't stop until we made it back to the first floor

We stopped and panted. Several people looked at us quizzically, but other than that, they didn't say a thing.

"What in the world was that!" Devin yelled.

His face was a mix of anger and fright.

"I have no clue. Whatever it was, it wasn't very friendly." I panted.

"I'm sorry Caleb, but we are going to rethink our strategy on this one." Katlyn huffed. "Caleb? Where is Caleb at!"

"I thought you were holding him!" I exclaimed.

"I put him down because my arms were tired! Lawrence is gone to!" Katlyn cried.

"My brother isn't here either! Where could they have gone!" Devin yelled. His eyes began to fill with tears.

"Don't worry, Austin will be fine. Sam will go find them." Katlyn comforted.

"Why me!" I yelled.

"I can't believe that I'm saying this, but, _you are the oldest_!" Katlyn yelled. "Besides, I don't think we should take Devin back up there." I sighed heavily. My argument, completely shattered.

"I'll be back as soon as I can. Don't worry, I'll find them."

"Zan, go with him. Make sure he doesn't do anything stupid." Katlyn ordered. Zan looked at the ground and pawed at a stone on the ground. "You of all people shouldn't be chickening out, Zan. Get in there with Sam or I will throw you up there myself." Zan cast Katlyn a dirty look and stepped next to me. I took a gulp of fresh air and started back up the stairs.

 **Caleb's POV**

Everything happened so fast that I couldn't comprehend what was going on. Something had sent the others running. I got separated when I tripped over a small crack. By the time I got up, everything was pitch black. I couldn't even see my snout and it was attached to my face. I felt helpless in the sea of darkness. I stumbled around in the dark for what seemed like ages. The fear of the unknown mixed with the anger over being practically blind had pretty much overridden all of my other emotions. It wasn't until I stumbled over something fairly large that an idea came to my head.

'I can breath fire. Duh.' I thought. I released a few small sparks from my mouth. They didn't last very long, but they lasted long enough for me to see what was directly in front of me. I released more sparks as I walked. Since the light didn't last long, I couldn't get my bearings. I walked for what seemed like forever, but I never seemed to get anywhere. I had just about given up when I ran into something.

"Whoa! Who's there! _"_ a very familiar voice yelled out of fright.

"Lawrence? How long have you been there? Where are we?" I asked.

"Caleb! I don't know. We are somewhere on the eighth floor. Have you seen anyone else? _"_ Lawrence asked.

"How would I see anybody else? It's darker than a black hole in here. _"_ I replied.

"Oh, well, let's get out of here. I'm sure everybody else is downstairs waiting for us. _"_ Lawrence said. I heard him get up and step towards me.

"Do you even know where the exit is? _"_ I asked nervously.

"No, not really. _"_ Lawrence admitted. _"_ I tried to pick up somebody's scent, but all of the dust and decay was blocking my sense of smell. _"_

"I can make us some light but that is about all I can do. _"_ I muttered.

"Don't worry, we will make it out. _"_

"You will make it out, will you? I guess we are just not going to let that happen. Get them boys. _"_ an echoing voice laughed evilly.

"Um Lawrence? I think I may have a plan. You stay here and distract them, while I run! _"_ I yelled as I took off at full speed.

"You are a very very bad friend Caleb! _"_ Lawrence yelled back as he also took off. I couldn't hear anyone behind me, but I could feel their presence. I didn't care who they were. All I knew was that I wasn't going to die as a Pokémon.

 **Sam's POV**

We made it back to the eighth floor faster than I ever wanted. The darkness gave me the same foreboding feeling as before.

"Ok, Zan. Make sure to keep your glow steady." I whispered. The Jolteon shot me a look. "I know what you are thinking and I really couldn't care less." Zan glowed intensely. He seemed to be using even more energy now that he knew that there were things hiding in the shadows. I could honestly say that it didn't bother me one bit.

We were halfway through the floor when we came across our first clue. The dust had been extremely thick on the floor. We found the group tracks from earlier. There were three separate tracks that split from the main group. Two sets were obviously Pokémon tracks and the third were human tracks.

"Great, which one do we follow?" I mostly asked myself. "Maybe Marik can help." I released the Luxio from his Pokéball. The instant he appeared, he tried to jump back to the Pokéball. I moved it out of the way then minimized it. "Marik, I need you to find Caleb and Lawrence. Me and Zan will find Austin." Marik shook his head no. "You will or I will leave you here in the dark. We have missing friends and we are not leaving until we find them!" the Luxio looked at me in pure fright, but slowly nodded. "Good. Hurry up. The sooner we find everyone, the sooner we can leave this creepy place." Marik nodded slowly then we went our separate ways.

As we followed Austin's shoe prints, noises could be heard all over the place. I looked around nervously. Scraping, screeching, and low thuds filled my ears. This place truly was one of the creepiest places in all of Kanto. Seconds seemed to stretch into minutes; minutes, to hours. Then I heard something that made my heart beat with excitement. That is, until I realized what the sound was.

"Elweard, use Aura Sphere!" Austin's voice rang out. A large, blue ball of energy shot from the darkness towards us. We narrowly dodged the ball of energy.

"Hold on! Stop shooting!" I yelled into the darkness.

"Sam? Sorry about that. There were things jumping out at us for the past fifteen minutes." Austin said relieved.

"What happened? How did you get stuck up here?" I asked.

"I tripped when we were running. When I got back to my feet, you were all gone and I couldn't see a single thing in front of me." Austin said. I could make out two silhouettes coming towards us. When they got closer to Zan's glow, I could make out Austin and a Lucario.

"Why didn't you tell us that you had a Lucario?" I asked.

"I don't know. It just never came up I guess." Austin shrugged. "Can we just get out of here and talk about this later?"

"No, we have to find Lawrence and Caleb still. We can't leave without them." Austin let out a small sigh.

"I was afraid you were going to say something like that."

 **Marik's POV**

By letting off miniscule amounts of electricity, I was able to produce enough light to see. I followed one of the sets of paw prints and found that they lead to the other set of prints.

'This makes my job a whole lot easier.' I thought as I followed them. 'Where are these two going? The exit is the other way.'

The tracks were leading away from the exit. In fact they were leading to the upper floors. I followed the tracks nervously. Eventually the tracks ended. They ended on the very top floor. Light was spilling in from holes in the ceiling. Unlike the other floors, this one had no graves. It was somewhat similar to a temple in the sense that everything about the room revolved around a large, alter-like table. In front of the "alter" stood Caleb and Lawrence.

"What are you guys doing just standing around here? We need to get out of here fast! _"_ I exclaimed.

"Marik, we are here. This is the top of the tower. _"_ Caleb said softly.

"So...what do you do now?" I asked.

"You turn around and leave. You are in a sacred place. You must not disturb it."a large booming voice called out. Out from the very far end of the room stepped an old man.

"W-who are y-you? _"_ Caleb stuttered.

"You are that old man who helped us back in Saffron City! What are you doing here? _"_ I asked.

"I am the guardian of this room Marik-kun. I protect this place and the souls that reside here."

"How do you understand us? _"_ Caleb asked. I looked at him in disbelief.

"Really? That is the first thing that pops into your mind to ask? There are so many other things you could say and that is what you come up with? _"_

"I guess you have a point. So, is Mew up here? _"_ he asked instead. I whacked him upside the head with my paw.

"Can't you be more polite? This man is a guardian. You need to show more respect! _"_

"It's ok. Mew-san informed me that you may be coming. She told me to tell you that you are in the wrong tower. _"_ The room fell back into complete silence.

"What do you mean the wrong tower? This is the only tower in Lavender Town. _"_ Lawrence spoke up.

"You are sadly mistaken. There are two towers. This tower is the only one still standing. The other one sank into the ground about fifteen years ago. You can still see the roof of it to the north. That particular tower was apart of a shrine. The rest of the shrine had also sank into the ground about one hundred years ago. The tower was the last piece of evidence that the shrine ever existed."

"Oh. Thanks, I guess. _"_ Caleb mumbled.

"Don't be to disappointed. The shrine is not to far from here." the old man said.

"I'm not disappointed as much as I am scared of what will happen. That shrine is where my sister thinks she will become her original age. She doesn't know that we made the entire thing up. _"_ Caleb mumbled guiltily.

"You have every right to be scared of what will happen. What you did was wrong. You should have been straightforward with her and told her the truth. However, you can still do the right thing and tell her the truth. The consequences may be grave but you would feel as if a heavy burden was lifted from your shoulders." the old guardian replied. "It looks as though we have a few more guests. Come on up boys. There are no spirits here to play tricks on you!" Two heads popped up by the staircase. I instantly recognized Sam and Zan slowly approaching us. A few seconds later, a third head popped up, as Austin climbed up as well.

"Samyueru. It is a pleasure to see you again." the old man said. He smiled gently as the trio made it to the center of the room.

"You are the one that helped me and Marik. Are you going to help Caleb as well?" Sam asked.

"Unfortunately, I cannot. I am here to give guidance. You must take everyone to the other tower. It is located on the same map that the girl has in her possession. Once you get there, it will be up to you to find Mew and her child." the old guardian said.

"Thank you for your help. We will be on our way." Sam replied almost reverently.

"Samyueru, there is one more thing you must know. If you go into that tower. You will need to make a decision. It will change your life as well as the lives of everyone that is with you. If you do not feel ready for this choice when the time comes you must leave or your decision could be disastrous." the guardian warned.

"I will be careful, sir. Come on Marik. We need to get everyone downstairs safely." Sam said.

"I will send Kashikoi with you. The restless spirits here know not to mess with him." The old man snapped his fingers and the Gallade teleported into view. His master whispered something into his ear and the Gallade nodded. He then beckoned for everyone to come closer.

" _Everyone must hold on to each other. You must not let go. I do not know what will happen if any of you let go. Do you all understand?"_ We all nodded. The Gallade's eyes flashed a bright blue and everything around us became blurred.

It felt as though we were running through a tunnel. Shadows with red eyes fled as we ran down the dark path towards a single light. During several points different shadows tried to get in our way, but Kashikoi got in the way of their plans. After what felt like an eternity, we passed through the light.

"Sam! Austin! How did you get here? Did you find everyone? Is everyone ok?" Emily and Katlyn asked as we appeared out of thin air. They looked as though they were going to be sick. Their expressions were one of relief and fear. Caleb and Lawrence presented themselves in order to calm the two girls down. I noticed Devin was sitting on a bench watching everything unfold. He to looked relieved, but he also looked slightly disappointed. I approached him and sat down next to the bench. He patted my head.

"One of these days Austin is going to get in way over his head. I just hope that when that day comes, I will be there to help him out. I didn't stay because I was scared of going back up. I stayed because I was scared to see what might have happened to my brother." he whispered to me.

"Don't worry to much about it kid. Something tells me that you will be able to help your brother one of these days. Just don't forget that he is family, and don't gloat when the time for your help comes. _"_ I replied. I knew that he couldn't understand me, but I felt like I needed to say something in response.

"Thanks, whatever you just said. You know, sometimes I wish that we wouldn't go home, but I know that we will have to. I just hope that we get home in one piece." Devin replied.

'I know what you mean. I hope I can return to my own family after all of this is over.' I thought.

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As usual, I hope y'all enjoyed the chapter. I hope everyone has a merry Christmas, a happy Hanuka, a happy Three Kings Day, and a happy New Years. If y'all have anything you want to say, be sure to leave a review. If y'all are enjoying the story be sure to smash that favorite/follow button. This is shieldliger001 signing off.


	34. Chapter 34

Hey guys, I'm back with another chapter. I feel like I got this one done a lot faster than the last one. I was just really excited about what is to come. We are finally reaching the final parts of this story. I just want to reiterate that I do not own Pokémon. I do own the characters except for Zan who was created b Rayrudan. On to the reviews!

Monpoke: As always, thanks for reviewing. I truly hope that the rest of the weeks goes well for you. I can tell you that times can be tough. I figured that Katlyn would start acting differently because of having a "younger mind" so to speak. As you have said the theme of the story goes back to the title. I wanted this to show how problems we would never think about can just show up and mess us up. My only problem with hybrids stories, is that there are only a few ways to write them. I actually do like the body swap idea. I even used it earlier in the story with Katlyn and Maggie. As always, thanks for supporting me and my stories.

Dunstann: thanks for reviewing. I have seen stories like that where a legendary becomes human. It is an interesting idea, but I don't think it would work for OMAA since the story is start to get to the finish point.

Rayrudan: I definitely see what you mean. Fair is fair, but what I have planned will make everyone think Caleb got the short end of the stick. Trust me. I think even you will agree with what happens.

Philip Harbindinger: I believe that I fixed all of the "to and too" issues in this chapter. Let me know if you find any I missed. Thanks for all of your help.

Vulpix 199: Hey thanks for reviewing. If you have anything to say about the story be sure to let me know and post another review.

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 **Secrecy sets barriers between men, but at the same time offers the seductive temptation to break through the barriers by gossip or confession.**

 **George Simmel**

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 **Chapter 34**

 **Caleb's POV**

By the time we got out of the Pokémon Tower it was already getting dark. The shorter days of late Autumn made us retreat back to the Pokémon Center. Sam, Austin, Lawrence, and I discussed what happened with the rest of the group. Everyone seemed to be excited about the turn of events, except for Katlyn. She seemed slightly disappointed. When everyone decided to go to bed, I decided to approach her about it. I jumped up onto her bed and nudged her with my small paws. She tried to resist waking, but I persisted. After a few minutes of nudging, she slowly got up.

"What's wrong? _"_ I asked before she could try to go back to sleep.

"Nothing. Let me go back to sleep. We have to get up early tomorrow." she replied while she tried to lay back down. I jumped from where I sat on the bed to where her pillows were. She groaned and tried to pick me up. When she did so, I latched onto her pillow and took it with me. "Caleb, let me have my pillow." Katlyn whined.

"Not until you tell me what is wrong. You have been acting weird all night. _"_ I replied firmly.

"There is nothing wrong with me. Just go back to sleep, ok?" Katlyn pleaded. I sighed sadly, a rift had somehow formed between us. I didn't know how or when, but the results spoke for themselves. It was then that I decided that I should finally come clean about the secret I have been carrying around.

"How about you just listen to me. I have something that I have been hiding from you. It wasn't my idea, but I should have told you a long time ago instead of waiting as long as I have." I waited for any kind of response. When there came none, I continued. _"_ Remember that map we found and took to that professor? _"_ Katlyn nodded slowly.

"He said that there was a shrine here that was devoted to healing curses and diseases." Katlyn replied.

"Well, Maggie made it all up. She threatened the professor we talked to. She was afraid that you would lose hope and give up. She told me to keep it secret from you until we reached the shrine. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you sooner. I really wanted to but I didn't know what would happen if I did tell you. I was scared. _"_ I began to cry a little as I confessed my sins. Instead of crying or yelling, or even storming out of the room, Katlyn placed her hand on my head.

"Caleb, I already knew all of that." she said softly. Her voice was filled with pain despite her best attempts to filter the pain out.

"Y-you k-knew? How? _"_ I asked in between sobs.

"I overheard you and Lawrence talking right before we left for Lavender Town." Katlyn replied.

"A-and y-you aren't m-mad? _"_ I asked.

"I'm not mad at all. I was furious at first, but I knew that you wouldn't lie to me unless you felt that it was completely necessary. By the time we made it to Aurelian City, I pretty much forgave you. Despite all of that, I just couldn't bring myself to talk to you. When we made it to the Pokémon Tower, it just reminded me of my irreversible situation. I'm still very angry about you lying to me, but I felt that we both have been through a lot lately. Mark my words, when we get you back to normal, I am so going to beat the crap out of you." she deadpanned. A chill went through my spin as she said that. "Unless you have something else to talk about, I'm going to bed."

"Night, and thanks for understanding. _"_ I replied, but Katlyn had already fallen back to sleep. I went back to my original spot on the desk and curled up. I too found myself in the arms of sleep.

"It's about time you told her. It came a little late, but you did the right thing. _"_ Lawrence whispered.

"Thanks, Lawrence. _"_

 **Devin's POV**

Everyone quietly got ready. There was no talking as we prepared to leave. Katlyn decided that Zan should take a break from being the flashlight and allowed him stay here with me. I really wanted to go, but Austin said it was too dangerous. Emily had also decided to stay in order to make sure I didn't do anything stupid. If it was just Emily, it wouldn't have been so bad; then Austin decided that Teresa my Kangaskhan should also help out. That was the final straw. The over-sized lizard treated me more like a kid than Austin and Emily combined. There was no way I was going to be stuck for who knows how long with a dinosaur trying to act like my mother. Despite my plans on getting away from the looney bin, it would be a lot easier said than done. My first job was to get a picture of the map that Katlyn had. Luckily for me, Katlyn had rolled the small map out on the table so they could figure out what the fastest route would be. I got up on a chair and snapped a picture with my phone. I quickly got down and left the map where it was.

My next chore was figuring out a way to get away without being noticed. I quickly came up with a good plan. While everyone was seeing each other off, I went into our room's bathroom. It had several rolls of cheap toilet paper sitting on top of the toilet. At first, I tried to lift up the lid on the back of the toilet, but quickly found that it was to heavy for my small body. I quickly improvised by wadding up an entire roll of toilet paper and flushing it down the toilet. Just as I hoped, the toilet was unable to flush all of the paper and became clogged.

'I'm all set. I just need to wait until the others leave; then I can escape.' I thought as I went back into the other room.

"Hurry up and get back, Austin. I don't want to be stuck here all day." I whined convincingly.

"I'll be back as soon as I can." Austin replied. After a few more goodbyes, they left.

I waited about an hour before I set my plan into motion. I went into the bathroom and pretended to notice that the toilet was to full.

"Hey Emily, there is something wrong with the toilet." I said casually as I walked back out.

"What do you mean?" Emily replied.

"I mean exactly what I said. There is something wrong with the toilet." I replied impatiently. Emily sighed and went into the bathroom. She groaned when she saw that the toilet was indeed clogged.

"Can you fix it?" I asked, hoping the answer would be no.

"I didn't see a plunger in there. I guess I'm going have to call the front desk.

"But I need to go to the restroom." I began to whine.

"Can't you hold it until the maintenance fixes the toilet?" Emily asked pleadingly. I shot her the death glare look and she sighed. "Teresa, could you take him to the lobby restroom? He wouldn't dare to mess with you."

"I'll take care of him." the Kangaskhan replied. It still amazed me that a dinosaur could learn to talk, but I put my wondering aside for the moment. The larger dinosaur grabbed my hand firmly in her claws and we headed for the door.

Teresa took me straight to the lobby restroom. She was about to go in with me which nearly made me panic.

"What are you doing?" I nearly yelled.

"I'm taking you to the restroom." Teresa replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

"You can't go in with me." I said.

"Why not?" The Dino asked.

"Because you are a...a..." I trailed off.

"Because I am a Pokémon?" Teresa tested.

"No because you are a girl and I am a guy. We don't use the same restrooms. See that sign right there?" I asked as I pointed to the boy's restroom sign. Teresa nodded. "That sign means that this restroom is the guy's restroom. That other sign means that it is the girl's restroom." I explained.

"Forgive me, I did not realize that you have different customs depending on gender." the dinosaur said. I couldn't help but wonder how Teresa could have gone so long without realizing that we do a lot of things differently than Pokémon.

"Wait here. I will be right out." I said as I went inside the restroom. I looked around the room for a second. The counter was directly below the windows. I walked over to them and climbed onto the counter. It was a lot harder considering I was only about four feet tall, but I managed to get onto the counter. Luckily for me, the window sill was only a few inches above the countertop. I opened the window with great difficulty. Once it was open, I looked to see where I would fall. It was only about a three to four foot drop so I simple jumped out. Once I was outside, I ran in order to put as much distance between me and the Pokémon Center.

Once the center was out of sight, I pulled out my phone and brought up the picture of the map. Since I was an eagle scout back in the States, it was pretty easy for me to get my bearings. I quickly found the quickest route to the shrine and took off. There was no way I was letting Austin have all of the fun, while I stayed at the room with Mother Teresa.

 **Emily's POV**

'It's taking them an awfully long time to get back, where could they be?' I thought as I opened the door to our room. The staff had fixed the toilet and left already and Devin and Teresa still hadn't shown up. I decided to go look for them since they were taking so long. I walked down the hallway and into the lobby. I was surprised when I saw Teresa sitting in front of the boy's restroom.

"Where is Devin?" I asked.

"He hasn't come out of the restroom yet." Teresa simply replied. A sick feeling began to form in the pit of my stomach. A young trainer walked past as he headed into the restroom.

"Excuse me!" I spoke just as the door had almost shut. The trainer heard me and opened the door again.

"What's up?" the boy asked.

"Could you tell me if there is a young kid in there? He is about five with red hair and green eyes." I asked hopefully.

"Sure, let me check." the trainer went into the restroom then came back out. "Nope, sorry. There isn't anyone else in there. The bathroom window is open though." I nearly fainted.

"Teresa, what are we going to do!" I cried.

"Calm down, we just need to look around and see if we can find him." the Kangaskhan replied calmly.

We searched for nearly twenty minutes and didn't find a single clue. I was about to give up and call the cops when my phone began to vibrate. The caller I.D. was Devin's. I quickly answered the phone.

"Devin where are you!" I yelled.

"I took a picture of that map. I'm on my way to the shrine. I figured that you would give up looking for me by now and decided that it was time to tell you." he replied.

"Your brother is going to kill you! What do you think he is going to do when he finds you there?" I asked.

"I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. Whatever happens will sure beat sitting around that room with Teresa. If it was just you, I probably would have stayed; that freaking dinosaur would have been the death of me. I'll see you later." the line went dead.

"What did the boy say?" Teresa asked.

"He is on his way to the shrine." I sighed.

"Now that we know where he is going, we can catch him before he gets hurt."

"I have no idea how to get to that shrine. Katlyn took the map with her so there is no way that I will be able to find it. Austin is going to kill us." I muttered.

 **Caleb's POV**

The shrine looked exactly like what the old guardian had said. It was practically buried except for a few small patches of the roof. Along with it being buried, there was no visible entrance.

"Great, how are we going to get in there? _"_ I asked.

"I don't have a clue, Caleb. Hey guys, do y'all have any ideas on how we are getting in there?" Katlyn asked. Austin and Sam only shrugged.

"So much help you guys are. _"_ I muttered. We walked all around the shrine area and didn't find a single area where we could gain access.

"Maybe we can knock a hole in the roof. _"_ Lawrence suggested.

"That's to risky, we don't want to accidentally blow up the floors below." Katlyn replied thoughtfully.

"Whatever Lawrence and Caleb are coming up with sounds pretty dangerous. Why don't we just try seeing if there are any holes in the roof? I bought some rope just in case we needed it." Austin said. He dug out a reel of climbing rope. He handed the rope to Sam and walked over to one of the patches of the roof and began to look for holes. "Ah-ha, I found a hole. Sam hand me the rope." Sam handed Austin the reel. When the rope hit the bottom of the floor, Austin tied the rope to a nearby stump and slowly climbed into the hole.

"Can you see anything?" Sam yelled.

"No, you better throw down some of those glow sticks that we bought this morning." Austin replied. Sam grabbed the box of glow sticks and dropped them down. "Ok, I've got a little light down here. Y'all need to be very careful when you come down here." Austin warned.

"How are we going to get down there? _"_ I asked.

"We will just put Lawrence in his Pokéball. As for you, I can fit you inside of my backpack." Katlyn replied.

"That doesn't sound to comfortable, and if you slip and fall on your back; I am the one that will be breaking your fall. _"_ I muttered.

"It won't be that bad. Besides, once we are through with all of this, you won't have to worry about any of this every again." Katlyn tried to sound happy, but her sadness still leaked in a little.

"I guess you are right. Let's get this over with. _"_ I sighed. Katlyn placed me inside her pack, but left my head sticking out. She then returned Lawrence to the Pokéball. She waited for Sam to finish his climb down then she began to descend herself. I held my breath practically the entire descent. Once she had reached the ground, I let out a sigh of relief.

"Sam, hand me one of the flashlights." Katlyn said as she stumbled around in the dim light. Sam got out a small package and quickly opened it. He then handed Katlyn a small blue flashlight. She flicked it on and began to look around.

"If I didn't know any better, I would have thought that this was grandma's attic. _"_ I said looking at all of the junk on the ground.

"It is pretty dirty and nasty in here." Katlyn agreed. A few seconds later, Katlyn let out a huge gasp.

"What? What's wrong? _"_ I asked worriedly.

"Austin! Get over here!" Katlyn yelled.

"What's up. Katlyn, you've gone pale." Austin said as he flashed his light on her.

"L-look." she stammered.

" _Hello_...what's going on? _"_ I asked.

"Devin!" Austin ran out of my view. I heard him slide on the floor.

"Will somebody get me out of this backpack? _"_ I yelled impatiently. Sam unzipped the bag and pulled me out of the pack. I looked around to see a battered and bruised Devin lying on the floor, unconscious.

 **Sam's POV**

After getting the struggling Vulpix out of the bag, I turned my attention to the situation at hand. There Devin was, lying on the nasty floor. He had several large bruises on his small frame and his arm was in a slightly strange angle, hinting that it could be broken.

"Devin! Can you hear me! What happened? Why are you even here?" Austin asked nonstop. He looked as though he was about to cry. Devin opened one of his eyes and peered into his brother's.

"Austin...It's about time...you got here. I just wanted to prove...that I would be there for you. Hehe, it...looks, like I botched it up pretty...bad." Devin mumbled. I quickly got out my first aid kit and set to work cleaning the small boy's cuts and bruises.

"What are you doing here?" Austin asked again. "And where are the others?"

"Ditched them." Devin replied simple.

"Austin, hold him still while I pour this on." I said calmly as I got out a small bottle of rubbing alcohol. The boy struggled and squirmed as I applied the disinfectant. "You need to keep him from moving, I got more of the stuff on the ground than I did on the cuts." I said. Eventually we got him cleaned up and bandaged. We had to make a makeshift sling for his arm. Aside from some of the bigger cuts and bruises he was fine.

"I told you to stay with Emily and Teresa. Why didn't you listen to me?" Austin asked sternly.

"Did you seriously think that I would miss out on all of the fun? You're crazy if you thought I would." Devin said. Austin didn't reply for a few minutes.

"Look at how your quest for fun ended up. You have cuts and bruises all over and a broken arm to boot." Austin finally said.

"Well, it's like what Dad always says. It is what it is." Devin replied simply.

"What does that have to do with anything? Forget it. We'll talk about this later." Austin said. "We have a job to do."

I took the lead as we headed to an old stone staircase. We descended into an even deeper darkness. However, it was not like the Pokémon Tower. There was no foreboding feeling emanating out of the darkness. It was almost peaceful. Eventually, we made it down about four floors. Each floor was as desolate as the one above. As we got lower the more things the building possessed. One of the floors was filled with furniture and other odds and ends. While another floor contained all sorts of paintings and sculptures. It was beginning to get weird. Soon we made it to the last three floors. The third floor looked like one large storage room. There were numerous beds and dressers stacked from floor to ceiling.

"This wasn't what I imagined when I heard that this was part of a shrine." I said as we continued to the next staircase.

"This almost looks like a bedroom." Katlyn added.

We descended down another flight of stairs and found what almost looked like a hotel hallway. It was a narrow hallway with doors lining the sides of it. Each door had a room number on it, just like a hotel. I walked up to one of the doors and twisted the knob out of curiosity. The door popped open with little effort. The room looked exactly like an old hotel room.

"This place is flat out creepy." Devin muttered as I looked inside.

"It's almost like finding a lost city frozen in time." Austin added.

"That is what makes it so creepy, Austin." Devin groaned. "Cities are not supposed to be frozen in time."

"Katlyn look at this." I said as I picked up a small hand mirror from a small vanity counter. The mirror was clouded with age. I squinted as a strange figure began to emerge. It was a little boy about Devin's age. I dropped the mirror out of surprise.

"What's wrong with you?" Katlyn asked as she picked up the mirror.

"I-I don't know. That mirror was so blurred that I couldn't see anything in it, then it just cleared up; there was a little kid looking back at me." I explained. Katlyn cocked her head, then picked up the mirror. It was completely clear and showed her reflection perfectly.

"I don't see anything wrong with it. What about you Caleb?" Katlyn placed the mirror on the ground to let Caleb peek inside. Once again the mirror clouded over and a boy appeared in the Vulpix's place. It took Caleb by surprise and he quickly backed away.

"See? I told you it wasn't just me!" I exclaimed. Katlyn seemed perplexed as she picked it up and studied it.

"Hey, there is another mirror over here. It has a plate on the back that says truth." Austin said. He handed the mirror to me and I looked inside. It just showed me as I was.

"Does that mirror have a plate on the back?" I asked Katlyn.

"No. It looks like it used to have one, but it's not there anymore." Katlyn replied. "Let me see that other one." Austin handed her the mirror and Katlyn looked at the shining surface. The mirror fogged up but then cleared, revealing an older, more mature version of Katlyn. When I looked in it again, it just showed my regular self. Pretty soon everyone was looking into the second mirror. Austin's reflection showed a boy who looked to be in his mid-teens. Devin's reflection showed a young man, and Caleb's showed another boy also around his mid-teens.

"What are these?" I asked.

"They could be the reveal glass."

"The what?" Katlyn and I asked.

"It is an item that reveals the true form of Thundurus, Landorus, and Tornadus."

"I have never heard of any of those." I replied.

"It doesn't surprise me. They are legendary Pokémon only seen in the Unova region." Austin replied.

"I guess that is why I never heard of them." I muttered.

"If that one reveals the truth, than what does the other one reveal? The past?" Devin asked. Austin shrugged.

"I don't know, maybe. Let's hold onto these until we get out of here." Sam replied. We all agreed and I placed the two mirrors inside my backpack.

We continued searching through the hallways for the next staircase. The search was proving to be more difficult since there were a lot more hallways we had to search through. We did eventually find it, but not without everyone becoming exhausted. We took a small lunch break before continuing our exploration of the tower.

The bottom floor greeted us with large, gate-like doors. They reminded me quite a bit of something out of a church. The rest of the floor was blocked off by smaller doors and walls. There was a set of double doors that seemed to mimic the large entrance doors in the sense that they looked almost the same. I opened one of the double doors to be greeted by a large dinning room. The room was well lit, allowing the room to show off its elegance. The large table filled up most of the dinning room. There were nine different chairs that surrounded the table. Each one had an elegantly carved legendary Pokémon. Each sitting place contained shining silverware and dishes.

"Guys, this place is starting to freak me out. It's like we are in one of those horror moves where everything seems normal, but then melts away when the haunting starts." I said as I walked around the table. I placed my hand on the clean surface of the oak table then looked at my hand. It was covered in dust! I wiped my hand on my pants and tried again. I got the same result. "Austin! Hand me that mirror that we found upstairs!" I yelled. Austin pulled out the mirrors and handed them to me.

"What do you need those for?" he asked curiously.

"I think we are seeing an illusion." I replied. I shined the mirror, which said truth on it, at the table. "Katlyn, tell me what you see!" I yelled across the room.

"The table! No, not just the table. The entire room looks different! It looks old! Like it has been sitting unused for a very long time!" Katlyn yelled back. As if on cue, the entire room changed. It was still lit but it looked like an abandon mansion. Everything was covered in dust. Cobwebs filled the corners of the room. The table and chair's polished gleam diminished as if they were aging at a faster pace then we were. Everything seemed old and worn out.

" _Congratulations. If you hadn't of figured out my little illusion you would not have been able to find us at all. Keep searching. You are getting very warm."_ a voice in my head said. Everyone looked around in confusion.

"Did y'all hear that?" Devin asked.

"Yeah. I guess that means we are in the right place." I replied.

 **Charles' POV**

"Alpha squad, stand guard and make sure that nobody comes out without my orders. Beta and Gamma follow my lead." I ordered as I jumped down into the hole. The three men in alpha squad saluted as I began my descent "We will set up a command post in here. Gamma squad go down and get us some eyes and ears. It is time that we wrap up this mission."

"Yes sir!" the three men in Gamma responded. The three heavily armored men headed towards the stone staircase. I sighed as I saw their stun rifles disappear.

"Ok, Beta squad. Hurry up and get us a clear connection with Gamma." I sighed again. 'I hope that this is as important as the boss says it is. If I mess up here, three years of work will have been wasted. I hope that Giovanni's intel is correct as well. If it isn't then my boss is going to kill me.' I thought. Somehow, I knew that Giovanni's info was correct.

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As usual, I hope y'all enjoyed the chapter. If you have anything to say, you know what to do. If you are enjoying the story be sure to smash that favorite/follow button. This is shieldliger001 signing off.


	35. Chapter 35

Hey guys, shield here. I am very happy with this chapter and I can't wait for your thoughts on it. It is sad that we are nearing the end of the story. I really enjoyed writing this one. However, I do have some great ideas for some two new stories with the crew from A New Age. If you haven't read that story yet, be sure to go and check it out. I would like to thank everyone for all of the support y'all have shown me for this story. A special thanks goes to Rayrudan, Monpoke, and Philip Harbindinger. Y'all have stuck with me since the beginning, and have helped me so much. On to the reviews.

Monpoke: Yep, Maggie's plan worked out.

Philip Harbindinger: Thanks for pointing the too/to out. I always seem to miss one. I actually only played Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Red Rescue Team. I actually was thinking of the city out of time off of a scene of Robotech, where the main characters found the city of Denver, Colorado frozen under a thick sheet of ice.

Blazaboi: She sent the message before the phone was smashed. Please refrain from using language, since the reviews can be seen by others who might be offended by it.

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 **In having Autism, we think outside the box while everyone else is trying to put us back in it.**

 **Anonymous**

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 **Chapter 35**

 **Caleb's POV**

The anticipation was getting to me. Everything the mirror showed, gave us new insight on where the next marker was. It started out as small things, such as small etchings and hidden messages; as we got closer, the signs became larger and more prominent. Soon we found ourselves in front of a large alter-like table, in the main chamber on the first floor. The chamber was almost exactly identical as the one in the Pokémon Tower. The only main difference was that the ceiling was flat, not curved. Sam shined the mirror on the alter and words began to appear.

"Place the three keys in the keyholes. Only then will you find what you seek." Sam read out loud. I jumped on top of the three-foot-tall alter and stared down deeply at it.

"Look, there are three holes in the alter. Two of those holes look like the ends of the mirrors. _"_ I pointed out to Katlyn.

"Hey guys, put the mirrors in these holes." she instructed. Sam and Austin placed the mirrors in two of the slots. A grinding sound followed shortly after. The grinding resulted in the mirrors sliding down into the alter. A panel slid over both of them.

"We still need one more key. _"_ Lawrence said as he jumped up next to me.

"Do we have any idea what the third key could be? _"_ I asked.

"I really don't have a clue. Do y'all have any ideas on what the last key is?" Katlyn replied.

"The key hole looks like something you would put a rock in. See how it's all jagged?" Devin said.

"Gee, that's helpful. This place is falling apart! There are like a billion rocks in here!" Austin exclaimed.

"Maybe there is a clue on the alter?" Katlyn suggested. Austin and Sam took a closer look.

"Yeah, there is an inscription underneath the key hole where the mirror was shining. It says 'Darkness before dawn. Then comes shining light of life and the cold touch of water, nourishes the vibrant leaves of the trees. After the long, sunny day, lightning strikes and thunder roars, causing fire to dance in the leaves. Once the fire has gone to sleep, the darkness once again takes over, and waits for the dawn to come again.'" Austin looked up after he finished reading the inscription.

"That makes no sense whatsoever." Devin said.

"It makes perfect sense! We are looking for an evolution stone." Sam exclaimed. "Every single part of the riddle talks about a certain stone. Darkness is dusk. Dawn is obviously a Dawn stone. Shining light and the cold touch of water is the shiny stone and water stone. The vibrant leaves represents the leaf stone. The..."

"Alright, thank you Austin. I think we get the picture." Sam said before Austin could continue. "The really question is, what stone do we put there?"

"I have a fire stone in my bag. Lawrence, do you mind if I use it for a second?" Katlyn asked.

"You better get me a new one, I don't want to be stuck in this form for the rest of my life. Those stones are extremely rare. _"_ Lawrence conceded. Katlyn nodded and retrieved the stone from her pack. She placed it into the hole and waited. Nothing happened.

"Maybe it is the wrong stone." Devin shrugged. I looked at the ground in disappointment.

"Great, one down. Seven to go." I mumbled.

"Wait, maybe we don't have to collect the rest of them. Maybe, we only need to get the first two." Katlyn said. "Six of the stones were mentioned only once. The dusk stone and the dawn stone were mentioned twice. Maybe one of those stones are the ones we are supposed to find."

"I guess one of those could be the key. I didn't think about that." Sam said.

"So we are looking for two evolution stones. Let's search this place and see if there are any already here. They are supposed to be keys after all. If there aren't here, then we will just have to buy one or something." Austin said. We all agreed and split into three teams. Me and Lawrence paired up. Katlyn and Sam paired up. Which left Austin to team up with his brother.

 **Lawrence's POV**

The darkened hallways seemed to be endless. Every once in a while, we came across some doors. Most of them led into rooms that were bare and empty, but on occasion there was a door that held some special kitchen or an extra large bedroom. We searched those rooms, but were unsuccessful in dig up any evidence of there being any stones here. Eventually, we came to a fork in the hallways.

"We should split up. If you find anything, yell. _"_ I instructed. Caleb nodded and went to the right, and I began going down the left.

Most of the doors were just like the others. However, I did find one door that seemed to be different. I opened it and found that the room was filled to the top with gold and silver. It was astonishing to see the amounts treasure in that single room. I stepped inside and the door slammed behind me. I jumped forward as the loud doors closed. I inspected the fortune and found exactly what I was looking for. In the center of the room, sat a golden crown. On top of the crown, sat a lone dusk stone.

'Bingo.' I thought as I tried to recover the crown. As I did so, I tripped on something and fell forwards, jamming my chin hard against the floor.

"What did I trip over? _"_ I asked myself as I looked back at the floor. There was a long line that I had snapped, lying on the floor. The line led into a pile of treasure, then it emerged and snaked its way into a nearby wall. I stared at the wire in horror as I realized that it was a trap. I waited for several long minutes for something to happen. When it didn't, I sighed a breath of relief and returned to retrieving the dusk stone.

I managed to get the crown with some difficulty. I grabbed the crown in my mouth and began to walk for the door. I blasted it open with my Extrasensory attack and stepped into the hall. As I reached the hallway, I heard Caleb yelping for help. I left the crown on the ground and ran out of the room.

"Caleb! Where are you! You need to let me know where you are _"_ I yelled. I bolted straight down his hallway, hoping that he wasn't hurt. As I ran I saw an orange blur go the opposite direction. It was Caleb!

"Lawrence! Run! _"_ he yelled over his shoulder.

"What? Why? _"_ I yelled back. Suddenly, there was a low rumbling sound. It almost sounded like a bowling ball rolling down a bowling lane. I looked dead ahead of me to see a large boulder, rolling down the hallway. _"_ A boulder? Really? This isn't Indiana Jones! _"_ I yelled as I ran back the way I came.

"Caleb! What did you do? _"_ I yelled to him as we ran.

"I have no clue! I was walking and all of the sudden that boulder was chasing after me! _"_ he yelled back. As we ran, I felt a stone sink beneath me. There was a loud click, and holes began to appear in the walls.

"Uh oh, that can't be good. _"_ I said quietly. Darts started shooting from the walls and sticking into the opposite wall and floor.

"Lawrence! Look what you did! Getting away from the rock is hard enough as it is! You don't need to add to it! _"_ Caleb yelled.

"Just shut up and run! _"_ I shot back. Caleb was about to say something, but he noticed that he had stepped on another rigged tile. Little arms shot out of the wall each arm shot out a beam of energy.

"Lasers? Really? We have a giant boulder, dart launchers, and now lasers? What kind of place is this? _"_ Caleb yelled out of disbelief.

"I think Mew must love movies! _"_

"What makes you say that? _"_

"The fact that everything we are running from are the biggest movie cliches in the world, is a pretty good indicator! _"_ I replied. I looked back at all of the darts, lasers, and the boulder. The weird thing was that there was no sound of darts tinkering off the ground. Then a laser had shot at the rock. The beam should have sliced it in half, but there wasn't even a burn mark. I opened my mouth and shot a flamethrower at the laser arms. The same thing happened. The walls were burned but the arms weren't. I then shot flames at the boulder. The boulder smoldered slightly, confirming that it was real. We past the fork in the hallway. The boulder hit some unknown object and turned down the fork. Despite the laser experiment, we kept running. We were still being chased by laser beams and darts. Then I just stopped running and waited for the darts and lasers to hit. Caleb looked and saw me standing in the hallway.

"What are you doing? Are you trying to kill yourself? _"_ he yelled to me.

"You'll see. _"_ I let the lasers and darts fly at me. When they passed, there was not a trace of blood or the smell of burnt flesh.

"They were fake? _"_ Caleb asked.

"Yep _."_ I replied nonchalantly. _"_ I found a dusk stone in the room up ahead. Let's go get it and head back to the others. _"_ Caleb nodded and we set off to retrieve the dusk stone.

 **Katlyn's POV**

Me and Sam talked lightly about the idea that Caleb would finally be back to normal. It wasn't anything big, but the conversation kept me from thinking about the creepiness of the building. It seemed like every five seconds was filled with the sounds of something creaking or something scampering off into the darkness.

"What do you think it's going to be like when he is back? Do you think it is going to be weird that he is older?" Sam asked. I tossed him an 'are you seriously asking that' look. Sam laughed nervously.

"No, Sam, it's going to be just like old times sake." I replied sarcastically. "What would you think if Amy was suddenly older than you?"

"That would be awkward, I guess." Sam said as he rubbed the back of his head. "Do you think it is going to be weirder than him being a Vulpix?"

"Sam, I really don't know. I'll let you know when I get to talk to him." Sam's questions were beginning to make me want to clobber him.

"So what about..." I didn't late him finish.

"If it is another question about Caleb, I swear that I will beat the crap out of you." I threatened. Sam raised his hands in his defense.

"Whoa, I've got the point!" he said quickly. "What do you think of that baseball game between the Petalburg Tallows and the Viridian Chus?"

"Sam, you should know by now that I hate sports. I don't follow, watch, or even talk about sports. I don't mind playing them, but I can't stand watching others play." I said through gritted teeth.

"Fine then miss priss. You come up with something to talk about." Sam retorted.

"Fine then, let me think for a few seconds." I thought for a moment and then something came to me. "What do you think you are going to do after this? I mean, you won't be drag me around everywhere, so you can pretty much do whatever you want."

"I haven't really thought about it. I guess I will get the rest of the gym badges and go onto the Pokémon league." Sam said. He seemed undecided which seemed weird for Sam since he always has his min set on something. "What are you going to do?" Sam asked.

"I guess I'm going to go home and try to cope with my parents again. I don't have any real options. No one is going to believe that I used to be in college. This kind of thing isn't common enough for there to be any legal precedents."

"Even if there were, they would probably legalize you as a child under the age of consent. You could wait a few years and become an actual trainer. You get most of your freedom of being an adult back." Sam suggested.

"Yeah, but you have to have your parent's fill out some form to allow you to be a trainer." I replied. "My parent's wouldn't take me seriously about being a trainer after this fiasco."

"Your parents don't fill have anything out. It is all up to you." Sam said.

"You actually do have to fill out a form. They send the form in the mail a few weeks before you can become a trainer. Your parents fill it out and send it in normally the day after they get it. At least that was what happened for Caleb." I replied.

"Oh, well, why don't you just keep traveling with me?" Sam's question took me by surprise. We had become fairly close friends during this adventure but I thought that once it was over, that I would have to go home to my parents. I never thought that Sam would openly ask for me to keep traveling with him. If he was about ten years older, I would have been suspicious.

"That would be a lot better than going back to live with my parents. Maybe Caleb could come and we could all go to the Pokémon league when you get the badges." I said thoughtfully. Sam seemed to brighten up a little.

"Maybe your brother could show me a few things too." Sam said with an ambitious smile.

"He is a good trainer. It took him only a few months to get nearly half of the gym badges. He did rush from place to place and had wrecked every gym he came in contact with. The only one he had trouble with, was Sabrina's gym, but most people have that problem. She tends to scare trainers out of their wits." I said proudly. I laughed on the inside. A few short months ago, I wouldn't have ever thought that Caleb's achievements were something to be proud of. I always thought that battling was barbaric. But, this journey changed my point of view.

"Hey Katlyn, look at that! I think I found the stone!" Sam yelled as he raced ahead.

"Sam! Wait up!" I yelled as I gave chase. We entered into a small room with a single dawn stone sitting on a pedestal. Sam picked it up and turned around. His excitement disappeared and was replaced by sheer panic.

"What's wrong?" I asked. He pointed behind me. I looked over my shoulder to be greeted by the sight of a very angry looking Tyranitar.

"How did that get in here? I didn't even see it." Sam whispered to me.

"Don't make any sudden moves. If you do, it will start attacking." I whispered back. I slide my hand slowly to my belt and plucked off Basil's Pokéball. I enlarged it and dropped it to the ground. Basil appeared and the Tyranitar roared. A dark aura began to form all around the Tyranitar.

"Basil! Use wrap! You got to stop it from using that attack!" I yelled in panic.

"Mistress, I don't sssee what you are talking about. _"_ Basil said in uncertainty.

"Basilisk! It's right there! The big Tyranitar charging the attack! Stop it before it attacks!" I yelled and pointed. Basil sighed. The only thing he did was spit some poison in the direction of the Tyranitar. The large creature shimmered then disappeared. "I-it was fake all along?"

"Yes mistress. There wasss no Tyranitar there at all. It wasss a figment of your imagination. _"_ Basilisk hissed.

"Even if it was fake, let's get out of here as fast as possible. This place is starting to get on my nerves." Sam said nervously.

"That's probably the best idea I have heard all day. Come on everyone."I said. We left the round room.

We wandered through the hallways and finally found the way back to the center foyer. Austin and Devin had made it back already. They apparently found every dead end in the building and couldn't find a single thing. Sam, Basil, and I showed Devin and Austin the dawn stone. Sam wanted to go ahead and test whether or not it was the key, but everyone else agreed that we should wait for Caleb and Lawrence.

Lawrence and Caleb appeared around fifteen minutes later. They were excite because they found a dusk stone. When we showed them the dawn stone, they were exuberant. We all hurried to the "key table" as we started to call, but we ran into a small problem.

"Which one is the right key? _"_ Caleb asked. His question was very good one. There could only be one key and we didn't know what would happen if we placed the wrong one in the keyhole.

"It didn't do anything when we placed the fire stone into the hole. So if one isn't the key then nothing will happen." I said logically.

"That first time could have just been a fluke. We were being chased by a giant boulder and we thought we were being chased by darts and lasers. None of that happened before we found the key table. _"_

"Actually, I might have been the one that set off the boulder trap. I found a trip wire in the room where I found the dusk stone. _"_ Lawrence fessed up. _"_ I tripped on it and it snapped. _"_

"Tripwires aren't supposed to snap when you step on them. When they snap, they normally are disarmed." I said.

"How would you know that? You don't strike me as the type that would know how traps work."

"Read it in a book once." I replied with a shrug. Then I began the next topic, "Caleb said that the first time when we tested the fire stone, could have been a fluke. If he is right then we don't know what could happen if the wrong key is used."

"It would probably set off another trap or something." Devin said thoughtfully.

"What stone is it then?" Sam asked. "We really don't need to be smashed by boulders or anything."

"I think it could be the dawn stone because it helps Kirlia to evolve into Gallade." Austin said.

"So? What's your point?" Sam replied skeptically.

"The point is that we are trying find Mew. Mew is a psychic type. If that is the case, then why wouldn't she pick the stone that helps one of her type to evolve?" Austin replied logically.

"I think that it could be the dusk stone because it was the first stone to be mentioned. That could mean that the dusk stone is the first key. Also, this tower was built way before any of us were born. So why would you pick the most obvious answer. For all we know, Mew created the poem herself and tossed the dawn stone in just to create a problem." Sam argued.

"The poem is real because the that mirror showed it to us. Maybe we should reread the poem and see if we missed something." I said. I then reread the poem out loud.

"It sounds to me like we have to use the dusk stone to get inside and the dawn stone to get out. _"_ Caleb said afterwards.

"Let's just take a vote. Everyone who thinks we should use the dusk stone, raise your hand." I said. Caleb glared at me for a couple of seconds before I finally figured out what he was mad about. "Or paw." I corrected. Sam, Caleb, Lawrence and Basil voted for the dusk stone. Devin and Austin voted for the dawn stone.

"I guess that means the dusk stone goes first." Sam said. I gave him the stone and he placed it in the hole. The sound of something heavy grinding its way open reached our ears in seconds. It was almost deafening. When the noise finally stopped, a large gaping opening presented itself in a formerly closed section of the room.

"I guess you were right." Austin admitted. Everyone else was silent as we walked into the darkness.

 **Caleb's POV**

It felt like we had entered a different dimension. Once we pierced the veil of darkness, we found ourselves in a room that seemed to pulsate with colors from white to light blue and light purple to bright red. In the center of the room, a small Mew and a larger Mew were floating serenely. The older Mew bowed her head to us out of respect.

" _You finally made it, Caleb Avery Ward. I knew that you had the will to make it here. These must be your friends."_ the larger Mew said indicating the others with her small arms.

"This is my sister Katlyn and her friends, Sam, Austin, and Devin. This is Basilisk and you already met Lawrence. _"_ I replied as politely as possible.

" _It is a pleasure to meet all of you. Caleb Ward, I do believe we have some business to discuss. If I remember correctly, it was over the events that happened in the Viridian Forest. That is the place where you tried to kidnap my son."_ Mew said. Her words turned cold when she started to address me. I could tell that what was about to transpire, was going to be an uphill battle.

"I would like to clarify something if I may, ma'am. _"_ I spoke up. Mew nodded solemnly. _"_ I believe that this whole situation has been a huge misunderstanding. I never intended to kidnap your son. At the time, that idea never even came into my mind. I legitimately wanted to help your son, because I did not see you or anyone else around to help. _"_

" _Do you mean to say that I had abandoned my only child? That, some how it is my fault that all of this happened?"_ Mew said incredulously.

"No ma'am. All I am saying, is that I did not see anyone around and decided to help. _"_ I replied firmly.

" _I see. Well, I believe that the original agreement was that you would fight my son in a contest of strength. Since my son decided to give you a hint as to our location, he will not be allowed to fight. Instead, you will be allowed to fight me"_ Mew spoke softly. My eyes widened in panic.

'I could probably have a fighting chance fighting the kid, but fighting a full grown Mew. That was impossible. I might as well just stay a Vulpix.' I though in panic. Then I remembered what my mom said when I got nervous. 'Don't give up. Get through it. Breath in, count to four. Breath out, count to four.' I closed my eyes and breathed in. After the count of four, I breathed out, and counted to four again.

" _Are you not afraid young one? Do you not have anything to say before we begin. Speak up, this is the only time I will allow you to back out."_ Mew quipped.

"I am afraid. I won't deny it. I want to be human again, and I will not give up on that goal. If I lose, so be it. If I win, so be it." I replied boldly.

" _If that is how you feel, then we will fight. I will not use anything that my son does not know and I will not use ninety percent of my power. All you have to do is hit me with one single attack."_ Mew said gravely.

"Wait! You can't battle Caleb! Please don't fight him!" A voice rang out from behind me. Katlyn dashed in front of me. She held out her arms in a defensive position.

" _Why can I not battle this human, girl? He agreed to battle me in exchange for my returning him to his human state."_ Mew asked.

"If he were to battle you, then… then he would be disobeying our parents!" Katlyn shouted. If I could have, I would have slapped her for that one. That was the poorest the excuse I have ever heard in my life.

"Katlyn, will you listen to yourself for once? That was completely ridiculous! _"_ I yelled in embarrassment.

" _Is this true that your parents do not wish for you to fight?"_

"Well, yeah, but I didn't tell them about this battle. They would probably let me if they knew. _"_ I fought. Mew's eyes glowed for several long seconds before she said anything.

" _I believe that your parents would disapprove of you battling in any situation. I will abide by their wishes. However, that leaves us a small problem as to how you can prove yourself."_ Mew concluded. Katlyn let out a sigh of relief as I gaped at the Mew.

"If you only had to read her mind to find out about my parents, then why do I have to prove anything to you! _"_ I exclaimed. Mew looked at me in disbelief.

" _I wanted to test your conviction. You know, there are very few Pokémon, much less humans, that would go as far as you have to obtain what you want. At first, I was angry about what happened in the cave, but I never took my eyes off of you. That is why I decided to give you a second chance. However, you have to fulfill one final test."_ Mew replied.

"What is it? _"_ I asked nervously.

" _You must catch my son in a game of tag. You start off as 'it'. Son, you better start running, and no teleporting! You can't control it yet!"_ Mew instructed. _"If you want, you can have one of your friends help you in catching him. My son is pretty fast."_

"Lawrence, help me catch him! _"_ I yelled as I bounded off after the fleeing kid.

"I'm right behind you! _"_ Lawrence yelled as he followed.

 **Lawrence's POV**

Catching the kid was no joke. We spent what felt like an eternity trying catch the twerp, but he always seemed to be one step ahead of us. The bad part was that he wasn't even floating. He was beating us on our own field! The closest we had gotten was when Caleb had fallen and hurt something. MK, as we began to call him, didn't want to see Caleb in pain and came over to see if could help. As it turned out, Caleb was faking and jumped up to tag him. However, he missed by a mere centimeter, and the chase was back on. We tried and tried until we were both exhausted. MK was just to fast for the both of us. Finally, MK decide we were tired enough for him to gloat without any dangers. He started out by telling us that we were too slow, and that we couldn't catch him in a million years. He then wanted us to say uncle. I gladly said uncle and collapsed on the ground in defeat. Caleb however, did not say uncle. Instead, he motioned for MK to get closer. MK, curious, moved closer. Caleb continued to motion him closer and every time, MK obeyed. Soon, MK was right next to Caleb, and leaning in to hear what Caleb had to say. In a voice that was barely audible, Caleb whispered.

"You are it." he then tapped MK with his nose. MK was disheartened by Caleb's trickery, and instantly began yelling that what Caleb had done was unfair. Mew and the others only laughed.

" _Even if it was shady, you did tag my son. I will uphold my end of the bargain and change you back into a human."_ Mew said with a laugh.

"I thought you said that you couldn't change him back! You told me that when you first transformed him! _"_ I yelled.

" _I lied."_ Mew shrugged.

"And apparently, so did you Lawrence. _"_ Caleb said in disgust.

"If I told you, you probably wouldn't have kept going. _"_ I said nervously.

"How was that different from what I was doing? Please, enlighten me. _"_ Caleb said angrily.

" _You two may discuss this later. Right now, I need to tell you what to expect when you are human."_

"What's to know? He will be normal, and we can head back to Dallas, Texas." Devin asked.

" _Well, it has to do with his time clock. When I transformed him, I did something I rarely ever do. I turned him into an infant Vulpix. Since I have the DNA of every Pokémon, I also have some of their abilities. I have Celebi's ability to reset a being's life clock. When I transformed him into the infant form you see right now, I fused his life clock with the Vulpix's life clock. So when he goes back to being human..." Mew trailed._

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Cliffhangers, go to love them. As always, I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter. If y'all have anything to say, be sure to leave a review or PM me. If you are enjoying the story, be sure to smash that favorite/follow button. This is shieldliger001 signing off.


	36. Chapter 36

Hey guys shield here. Sorry this took so long. I have had a pretty busy schedule as of late. Anyways, enough with my excuses, on to the reviews.

Mades: Honestly, I think if I were in their shoes I would be to excited about being so close to remember that. Besides, I wasn't thinking about that, lol. Which ever one works.

Monpoke: I was trying something a little different, but I see I need to work on it a little bit. Thanks for pointing out that the suspense was to short. I need to work on that for the book I actually want to try and get published.

Caitou zzzzzz: Yep I still think Caleb gets the short end of the stick in this story, but he persevered this far so he might as well finish what he started. Besides, he wouldn't lose his memories he would just be a little dependent. Thanks for pointing out my mistake. It was just a typo that I missed when I was proof reading.

Rayrudan: I just can't win. Just kidding I love having people's viewpoints differ from mine. What kind of world would we live in if we didn't disagree. What have planned is that Caleb goes back to being human and it gives him and Katlyn a chance to experience what it is truly like to be brother and sister. They basically get a second chance. Thanks again my friend for reviewing.

Boompikachu: Thanks for reviewing, and I am glad that you are enjoying the story. The surprise doesn't come in this chapter, but quite possibly the next.

 **The most interesting thing in the world is another human being who wonders, suffers and raises the questions that have bothered him to the last day of his life, knowing he will never get the answers.**

 **Will Durant**

 **Chapter 36**

 **Caleb's POV**

"And what? What happens when I go back to being human? _"_ I asked impatiently. Nervousness filled my entire being. Mew was trying to think up a way to tell me something and all I could do was speculate what she was trying to explain.

" _Let me put it this way. Katlyn would still be your older sister."_ Mew said finally.

"Well, that can't be to bad. I mean, she already is my older sister so... _"_

" _By seven years and five months."_ Mew interrupted.

"I'm already five years… You don't mean her old age do you? _"_ Mew shook her head. _"_ So, you are telling me that I would be about seven months old if you turned me back? _"_

" _Give or take."_ Mew replied.

"I can't go home like that! This is insane! Please tell me that there is something you can do to make me older. It would be the end of my life if that happened to me! _"_ I yelled out of panic. A million scenarios began to play in my head. None of them worked out for me.

" _There is one thing that I can do, but it sort of requires a volunteer. I can transplant a few years of another human into you. However, since I caused so much damage the first time, I can only transplant a few years."_

"What happens if you put to many years into him? _"_ Lawrence asked.

" _The donor would shrivel into nothingness and Caleb would most likely explode into a million pieces."_ Mew replied quickly.

"That doesn't sound very fun. Is there a way to make him older without the risk of killing someone?" Devin asked. Mew shook her head. "Well, that's just great. Who is going to be the crazy lunatic that is going to volunteer for this crazy experiment?"

" _It can only be somebody that has not been affected by a curse or a seal for longer than a week. And in the case of those two, they can't be from another dimension."_

"Oh, thank God. I am free from this burden. My condolences to whoever is left." Devin said in relief.

"That really only means me. Are you sure you can't pick someone else? I don't have much time to give." Sam asked hopefully.

" _Unless there is someone else that can be here in about five minutes, you are the only option. I would have to transform him back into a human first. You would have some time to prepare yourself."_ Mew said.

"How many years are we talking about? One, three, five? _"_ I asked.

" _All I can give you is five years. That is the bottom line._ _A_ _n_ _y_ _more and I risk killing you and Sam. All legendaries with temporal abilities or the ability to curse are barred from changing a life clock more then once. If we do, we risk destroying the individual."_

"Why is it that Ember was able to make me older before? _"_ I asked with a glimmer of hope in my eyes.

" _A Ninetales has similar abilities to legendaries when it comes to the ability of bestowing curses, but they are quite a bit weaker. The longest a curse will last is a thousand years. By that time, the cursed general die unless they are cursed to live the thousand years. A legendary's curse can last indefinitely. Whatever effect her power had on you, was strictly an illusion. She never actually made you older, she just made it appear as if you were. Her powers are great, but she had no way of truly breaking your seal. Even if she could, she would only have been able to do it for a short amount of time."_ Mew explained. My glimmer of hope was dashed. I wanted to break down right there, but I felt that I still needed to be strong.

"Look on the bright side, at least you will be human again. _"_ Lawrence comforted. Lawrence walked over to me and looked me dead in the eyes, then added with a grim tone. _"_ It would suck at first because you aren't free to run around anymore, but you get to experience something that very few others get to. You and Katlyn both get to have a second childhood. There are miserable people out there that would die for that opportunity. _"_

"I guess you're right. Alright Mew, I'll go through with it. When can we begin? _"_ I said with new found boldness. Mew smiled.

" _I knew you would. For this to work, I will need you all to step outside this chamber. This a very delicate process. I cannot be interrupted or I could kill Caleb on accident. I will let you know when I am finished. I will get you Sam once I have finished with the first part of the process. Son this goes for you too."_ Mew informed. Everyone nodded or agreed silently and headed to the single arched door. MK, however had stayed behind.

"Mom, I don't want to go out there. I want to stay with you! _"_ the young Mew whined.

"You are going to leave or you will have to deal with your father when you get home. _"_ Mew threatened. The Young Mew looked extremely hurt, but he followed the others. Once they had exited, the door disappeared from view and was replaced with the illusion of infinite pulsating colors.

"So, now what? _"_ I asked. Mew hovered over me and I looked down at my quadrupedal form.

"You lay down and go to sleep. Think of something happy or fun and cross your fingers. _"_ she said wryly. I nodded and laid down. I closed my eyes and thought of the first time me and Lawrence were allowed to go somewhere by ourselves. My eyelids began to grow heavy.

 **Katlyn's POV**

"How long do you think it will take for them to finish in there?" I asked as I paced around the room. It had only been ten minutes but I was already worried sick about my little brother. I knew in my heart that he would be ok, but it didn't stop me from worrying. Lawrence smiled at me reassuringly.

"He'll be fine. He always is. _"_ he assured me. I couldn't help but laugh a little. Throughout our adventure we were always ok. We wanted to kill each other at times, but we always made it through.

"So what are we going to do now? It's kind of boring just sitting here." Devin said. He rubbed his broken arm a little as he spoke. Austin noticed this and looked at him disapprovingly.

"You are not doing anything. First you run away from your guardians, and then you get a broken arm. You shouldn't even be here." Austin chided.

"What are you? My mother? When have I ever listened to what you have to say?" Devin shot back.

"We'll talk about this later. I don't feel like ruining the mood." Austin said. We continued to talk for another few minutes. Austin began to tell us about his homeland, but was interrupted by a small pink blur. The little ball of energy was practically bouncing off the walls.

"MK what are you doing out here? _"_ Lawrence nearly yelled.

" _I came out about the same time you guys did. I stayed out of sight to see what you guys would do. I have to say that you guys are pretty boring. Most people want to play games, not listen to somebody's life story."_ the kid said as he floated in circles over our head.

"I don't see you coming up with anything to do. Besides, nobody knew that you were even here!" Sam said hotly.

" _Alright, let's play tag! You are it!"_ the little Mew whacked Sam on the head then dashed away.

"Ow! You little pest! Get back here!" Sam yelled angrily as he chased the Mew.

"Well, that was unexpected." I said as Sam chased MK around.

"At least he is getting his exercise." Austin pointed out.

"And he is pretty entertaining to watch." Devin added with a smirk. I smiled and laughed when Sam tripped and fell flat on his face. He was livid at this point and threw Marik's Pokéball. Marik appeared and tensed for a fight.

"Marik, help me catch that twerp over there!" Sam yelled. Marik looked over at the laughing Mew then looked back at Sam.

"Why would I do that? _"_ Marik asked as he laid on the ground. Marik knew that Sam wouldn't understand him, but his lying on the floor definitely sent Sam the message. Sam was exasperated.

"Why are you just lying there? Marik, you are supposed to be on my side!" Sam whined. Marik made no attempt to move. "Fine, I'll do it myself."

"Sam, why are you so aggravated? He is just having some fun." I laughed. Sam looked at me angrily.

"It's his fault that I have to make this decision! Or, it's Caleb's fault! I haven't really decided yet!" he yelled. "Maybe it would have been best if I had let those agents take you away at the airport. If I had, I wouldn't be in this position!"

"You don't have to do it if you don't want to. We aren't holding you to it." I said sincerely.

"That's the thing. You heard how hopeful Caleb was in there. He thinks that I am going to be some age donor."

"You could understand him?" I asked, cutting him off in the process.

"Mew was broadcasting everything Caleb and Lawrence said. She was pretty much acting like a universal translator." Devin explained.

"I guess I didn't notice since I'm used to understanding what Lawrence and Caleb has to say." I mumbled.

"As I was saying, Caleb thinks that I am going to donate my time to him. If I do it, then I have about five more years to wait before I can become a trainer again. If I don't, I look like a heartless jerk. Call me selfish all you want, but I don't know if I can make that sacrifice."

"You wouldn't be selfish to me. I would feel the exact same way. In fact, I am the precursor of your life if you go through with it." Devin spoke up mockingly. Austin whacked him upside the head.

"Cut it out. That isn't helping anyone." Austin scolded.

"Well, it's true." Devin mumbled. Austin whacked him again. MK appeared in front of Sam, and floated for a few minutes.

" _Just follow what you think is right. If you don't think you can do it, don't do it. If you can then go for. Follow your heart."_ MK said almost profoundly.

"My mind says that I shouldn't do it, but my heart says I should. Fine, I'll do it." Sam sighed. I tried to keep a straight face, but I couldn't help but smile a little.

"Thanks Sam, Caleb will definitely be thrilled." Sam didn't look at me. Sam sat criss-cross on the ground. He seemed depressed, and I had no words that would comfort him. I laid my hand on his left shoulder. Sam looked up at me and gave me a small smile, but then he suddenly turned grave.

"He better be thankful for this." Sam whispered to me.

 **Caleb's POV**

'Where am I?' I asked myself as I looked around the darkened room. It was quite the contrast from the brightness of the memory I had just experienced.

"This is the Ruam des Willens or the Room of Will. This place displays the inward progress of an individual. _"_ Mew explained as the creature manifested in front of me.

"What kind of progress? _"_ I asked.

"It depends on the situation. Normally, it shows maturity. In special cases, it shows progress of healing, acceptance, and knowledge. In your case, it is a mix of healing, survival, and acceptance. _"_ Mew explained.

"What do I do here? I thought that you would just be able to turn me back. I didn't know that I had to actually do something. _"_ Mew looked at me in amusement.

"You already started. You thought of one of your best moments in life. Those moments gauge your will to live. The more memories you have of succeeding, the better off you are. To be fully in the clear, you need to light up this entire room, by placing this into one of the ten ports around the room. _"_ Mew snapped her fingers and something resembling a USB drive appeared in her paws.

"Is that a USB drive? _"_ I asked.

"Actually, this is a test key. It takes on the appearance of an object that the person is most familiar with. In your case, it is a piece of technology. This key allows you to activate ten different challenges. You already finished the first challenge, when you relived a good memory. The rest of the challenges take scenarios from you memory and makes you figure out what to do. If you pass every challenge, you will have a straight shot at survival. If you don't pass one, your odds go down. If you pass less then half of the challenges, you will most likely die. Don't fail those challenges."

With that Mew disappeared and left me alone in the dark room. I sighed, then took the test key to the closest port. I inserted it and a very bright beam of light shot out of the port. I covered my eyes in order to keep from being blinded. When I looked back up at the port, the entire thing was glowing a light blue. Then, a small section of the room was filled with a dull blue light.

'I guess I should figure out how to begin the next challenge.' I thought. I looked around at the ten ports. They were set up like a semicircle with an eleventh port in the in the center of the semicircle. I took the key to the small pole and stuck it into the port. The entire room was filled with light once again.

Once my vision had cleared, I noticed that I was standing in the middle of the woods that filled my backyard. I looked at myself and found that I was human and was about ten years old. A few seconds later, Katlyn came charging at me. She was about fifteen years old and she seemed to be extremely angry.

"What are you doing out here? You are supposed to be indoors, doing your homework! Get in there and start doing it!" She grabbed me by the wrist and began to drag me back to the house.

'What kind of challenge is this?' I thought as I was dragged across the entire length of the backyard.

 **Sam's POV**

"Did y'all here something?" I asked as I began to look around. Everyone stopped chatting for a few seconds to listen.

"I think you are hearing things. I don't hear a thing." Devin said with certainty.

"I think he's right. I don't hear anything either." Katlyn agreed. I wasn't convinced. I felt on edge; as if there was some pressure threatening to push me off the edge of the cliff. Everyone else went back to talking. A few minutes later, I heard the sound again. This time, there was no denying the noise. It was some kind of rifle being cocked.

"Everyone, get down!" I yelled. Everyone looked at me wildly as a stunner dart passed through the air and slammed into the wall, just centimeters away from my arm. Several armed men appeared with there weapons trained on our group.

"You four stay where you are and keep those two Pokémon from doing anything stupid!" one of the armored figures ordered. I was surprised by the man's count. When I looked around, I couldn't see MK anywhere. My thoughts were interrupted by Lawrence's growls. I could understand why Lawrence would be so upset, but I couldn't understand why Marik seemed unbelievably calm.

"Who are you guys! What are you doing here!" I yelled angrily. One of the men held his hand to his ear and began to speak.

"Sir, the captives are asking questions. Should I indulge them, Sir?" he said. The man nodded several times then smiled at us crookedly. "We are a special task unit for Team Rocket. Aside from that, you don't need to know anything else, until the boss decides you need to know more." the man said. I clenched my fist. I was going to just charge at the infuriating man, but Austin grabbed my wrist and held me back.

"Don't do anything rash. We don't want people getting hurt." he whispered. I tried to jerk away from his grip, but he held on persistently. "Stop and think! If you do anything, you could get everyone killed. Then, your entire journey here would be for nothing. Wait to see what they want and then we look for a way to escape."

"You are right." I sighed as I stopped struggling and looked at the ground. I then looked up defiantly at the armored figures. "Attacking this piece of garbage would be pointless."

"You four should get comfortable, we are going to be here until our target exits that door, you three kindly opened for us." the one of the armored men said with a shrug. Unlike the first man with the earpiece, this one sounded almost sorry for us. He tried to cover it with sarcasm, but it wasn't working. Despite my wanting to be defiant, I found myself taking his advice.

 **Caleb's POV**

The first challenge turned out to be fairly simple. When I got inside the house and opened the notebook from back when I was in grade school, it told me that I had to complete three different problems. The first one was for me to help my mom around the house. The second one was to find a way to beat my dad in a Pokémon battle. The last problem was for me to get Katlyn to actually say she was proud of me. They were the dumbest quests I had ever heard about but I needed to complete them. Helping Mom was the easiest task. Battling Dad was somewhat more difficult since he had a Tyranitar and I had Lawrence. What I ended up doing was slipping the large dinosaur some of my Dad's sleeping prescription pills. When Dad decided to battle me he threw the ball and a very drowsy Tyranitar appeared. After a few Ember attacks, the Tyranitar passed out from the pills. Dad forfeited the match. For the last task, I convinced my parents that Katlyn had been mistreating me, which she had. My parents made her write a report of all the things that made her proud of me. It was a very short report, but I completed the challenge.

Once the tasks were done, I was whisked back into the Ruam des Willens. The test key was glowing a bright purple. I placed it into the port next to the blue one. It flashed brightly then was replaced with a soft purple glow.

As soon as I had recovered from another "Test Flash" I found myself in a dark cave. Lawrence was nearby providing light for me to see. At first I thought that I was in the cave where I found MK, but I quickly realized that I was in the Rock Tunnel. This was the cave where I had received my first defeat. I met a trainer here that had a Flareon. At the time, I was extremely self-confident. I felt that I was on top of the world. The trainer that had the Flareon taught me what it meant to be humble in battle. He defeated me with such ease and was so gracious at the end of battle that it changed how I saw battling. I figured that this next challenge was going to be me battling the same trainer once more.

"Do you think you can beat me this time?" a voice called out.

"I believe I can. Not because of my arrogance, but because I have the will to defeat you." I replied.

"I hope that your will is enough. You can't be defeated in very many challenges if you hope to survive." the trainer called out.

"You know about that? How? You are just a character from my memories." I asked.

"I know because you know. Every one of these challenges are fears that you hold deep down. I am your fear of defeat. Katlyn is your fear of not living up to your family's name. The first challenge was your fear of losing friendship with Lawrence. Now, let's get down to business. Flareon, use your Take Down attack!"

A dark grey colored Flareon, jumped from the shadows. It almost seemed like a shadow itself as it aimed for Lawrence. It slammed into Lawrence with full force. Lawrence turned his body in mid-air and landed on his feet.

"Lawrence use Quick Attack. Try aiming for the legs!" I ordered.

"You got it, boss! _"_ Lawrence yelled as he took off as fast as he could. A sudden flash of light gave Lawrence the appearance of breaking the sound barrier. He aimed low and hit the Flareon in the left leg. The dark colored Flareon's leg folded underneath him and caused him to stumble forward.

"Flareon, use Bite!" Lawrence had not gotten away in time and the Flareon shut its powerful jaws on Lawrence's hind-leg. He shrieked in pain as the pain nearly overpowered his fighting spirit.

"Lawrence! Try to get up and use Double Team!" I yelled. Lawrence got up slowly; then created several copies of himself that surrounded the Flareon.

"That won't work! Flareon, use Incinerate!" Flames gathered around the Flareon and shot out in every direction, wiping out most of the copies.

"Lawrence! Use Dig!" I yelled. Lawrence quickly dug beneath the surface. The flames missed Lawrence altogether.

"Lawrence use Double Team as you come up from the Dig attack!" I yelled in hopes that he could hear me. My hopes were shattered when Lawrence jumped out of the ground. He completely missed the attack and the Flareon jumped to tackle him. Just as the Flareon made contact, Lawrence disappeared from view. The ground rumbled for a second, and a second Vulpix emerged. It struck the Flareon dead in the chest. The real Lawrence launched the Flareon straight up into the air. It landed with a loud thud and didn't try to get up.

"I see that you got over your fear of defeat. Hopefully, you will continue to pass the rest of your challenges." the trainer said as he conceded defeat. The cave was filled with light that once again blurred my vision. I blinked a couple of times and found that I was back in the Ruam des Willens.

 **Sam's POV**

"How long are you gorillas going to hold us here?" I asked irritably.

"As long as it takes, kid." one of the soldiers said.

"Hey, why don't we have some fun." the third guard said with a sinister smile. "Call up the Lieutenant and see if he could make an appearance. He said earlier that he met these kids before."

"Good idea, I can't get any cell service down here. That means no gaming for me." the hesitant guy said. He wasn't all that hesitant this time.

"Hey Boss, everything is secure down here. Are you ready to come down now?" the rudest one said into a comm. He nodded a few times then smiled. "The Boss said he will be right down."

"How do we know this boss, of yours? Is he the one that I wiped off the bottom of my shoe the other day?" Katlyn spat.

"How in the seven realms would I know. I'm not some eternally wise dragon that knows everything." the rude guy said sarcastically. "You just have to wait a couple of minutes for him to get down here."

About five minutes later, foot steps echoed from the hallways. They grew louder and louder as the owner grew nearer. Finally, a large man came into view. I recognized him almost immediately as the man who found our backpacks. His hair and eyes were different. They were both a light brown instead of blond hair and light green eyes, but it was the same man.

"You! You are working for Team Rocket? You placed the bugs in our backpacks?" Katlyn yelled out of surprise.

"That's me kid. The first thing to remember when you are out in the real world, is that you never trust a soul. Not even the ones you hold most dear." the man said gravely. He sighed quietly and stared deeply into Marik's eyes. He then added. "You Sam, are the one who will learn this painful lesson first."

I hope y'all enjoyed the chapter. If y'all have anything to say, be sure to leave a review. Speaking of reviews this story has just passed the one hundred review mark! Thanks for all of your support! If you are enjoying the story be sure to smash that favorite/follow button. This is shieldliger001 signing off.


	37. Chapter 37

Hey guys. I'm back. I am sorry that this chapter took so long to get out. We have been doing a lot of home renovating lately. In fact, I just finished putting in the flooring in my room last night. Anyways, let's get onto the reviews

Monpoke: Honestly, I only know a fraction of Spanish. The rest I leave up to a translation app. So I don't know if I am understanding the review or not. I am trying to learn Spanish, but the people running the schools in the U.S. are idiots and don't teach foreign languages in elementary school when the brain is still readily accepting knowledge.

Devanor: Yep, but hey that is how life is. Some people just aren't real caring. As for why Lawrence blames Caleb, well basically Maggie lied. But Caleb is the one that kept that secret. He should have told Katlyn about the deceit, but instead he kept it a secret.

Mades: Yeah I was thinking about that. I just haven't had a lot of time to write. It is one of those 'once I get around to it' things.

Phillip Harbindinger: I was kind of hoping that since they knew about Katlyn and Caleb's group the entire time that it would take away from the cliché. You are right though. New ideas are hard to come by for these situations.

* * *

 **Failed plans should not be interpreted as a failed vision. Visions don't change, they are only refined. Plans rarely stay the same, and are scrapped or adjusted as needed. Be stubborn about the vision, but flexible with your plan. John C. Maxwell**

* * *

 **Chapter 37**

 **Caleb's POV**

I looked around the almost fully lit room. Out of the nine challenges I had started, I passed eight of them. The one I failed was on a technicality. All I had left was one single challenge. I took the key out and placed it into the little keyhole underneath the small pillar. After another flash of lights, I found myself in the last place I would have expected.

"Caleb, I'm cold. Why did you stop moving? _"_ I looked down to find Lawrence shivering in my arms.

"I'm back where it all started!" I shouted. Lawrence flinched at my sudden outburst and whimpered a little. "Lawrence! I forgot! I'll get you somewhere warm!" I shouted as I took off. I already knew what this challenge would be. Being back in this exact forest at this exact time made it easy to figure out. I ran until I found the cave we had originally found MK. I repeated my memory to the letter, except I purposefully did a few things different. I built a fire and gently placed Lawrence next to it. "I should have done that the first time around." I said out loud to no one in particular. Lawrence snored softly as he dried off. I felt for my empty Pokéball. Pokéball in hand, I walked to the back of the cave. I found the baby Mew sleeping soundly against the rock where I found him originally. MK looked so much different then he did now. His fur was light pink wisps and he was quite a bit smaller also. Instead of trying to catch him, I sat next to him and waited for Mew to appear.

When MK began to cry, I knew that it wouldn't be long. Lawrence appeared about a minute later and he was mystified by the sight of me sitting next to a legendary.

"Caleb! What are you doing here? Where did he come from? _"_ Lawrence asked. I shrugged.

"He… was just sitting here. I am just waiting for the parent to get here." I replied. Lawrence sat next to me and we waited. I could feel the time coming. It felt like a nearing tsunami that would wash me away. Then it happened. Mew appeared out of thin air in a rage. I looked solemnly up at the legendary Pokémon.

"So, are you the real Mew or are you just part of this memory?" I asked calmly. The Mew's facial expression contorted from rage to mild surprise.

"How did you know that it would actually be me? _"_ Mew asked out of surprise.

"I had a hunch. Since I was right, something tells me that this is going to be the ultimate test or something. Am I right?" Mew shrugged.

"Something like that. _"_ she grimaced.

"So, what happens? If I lose, I automatically die?" I asked.

"If you lose, the challenge will count just like the rest. However, I will not do the age transfer. I still want you to prove yourself to me. Since you can't fight outside, we will do it here. _"_ Mew explained.

"How do I know that this won't be rigged?" I asked suspiciously.

"You have my word. _"_ Mew pledged.

"No offense, but your track record hasn't been all that great. You said that you couldn't turn me back when this began, but then you tell me that you lied and can fix me.

"You are lucky that I am giving you your human form in the first place." Mew's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Fine, how will this battle work?" I asked. Mew eased up a little.

"It will be a standard Pokémon battle. You will be in your Pokémon form. _"_ Mew said. With a snap of her fingers. I reverted to my Vulpix form. _"_ For this to be fair. You may want one of these. _"_ Mew snapped again and a fire stone appeared directly in front of me.

"You want me to evolve?" I asked out of mild disbelief.

"For it to be fair, yes. I can't fight at my fullest if you are fighting as a small Vulpix. As a Ninetales, you at least have a chance. _"_ Mew replied.

"Thanks, but I don't need it. I will fight you as I am. This is me and it wouldn't be fair to have a handicap. _"_ I said sincerely.

"You obviously have no idea what a handicap means. They are meant to even out the odds. _"_ Mew explained.

"I realize that, but life isn't fair. If it was, then Katlyn would be able to get fixed as well. I'm doing this for Katlyn. Not just myself. Even if it is impossible to beat you as I am, I won't use that stone. _"_ I said vehemently. Mew grinned widely. _"_ What? What did I say? _"_ I asked.

"You just passed the test. _"_ Mew said.

"What? _"_ I asked. Mew giggled at my reaction.

"The last test was meant for two things: testing your fear of fighting, and testing your motives. By not using the stone, you proved that you would not give up, even if the odds were against you. You stated your true motive very clearly. What was it again? _"_ Mew feigned forgetfulness.

"I didn't want my sister to be alone this time. I wanted her to have the best brother she could have. If she can't go back, then that is the least I can do." I played along.

"That is what I wanted to hear. I am almost done with the transformation. You will wake up shortly. When you do, you will be human again. Just a slight warning, you may notice a few things that aren't quite the same. They should change over time, but I can't guarantee anything right now. _"_ Mew said.

"What kind of things? _"_ I asked nervously.

"Nothing that will make you stand out. Just your hair will probably be different, and your canines may be a little sharp. _"_ Mew said. She quietly muttered, _"_ You may feel slightly pained when touching cold water for a few months. _"_

"I can live with different hair and little sharper teeth… wait. What do you mean that I'll be pained by cold water! _"_ I yelled. _"_ It's just a few side-effects. Nothing harmful. _"_ Mew assured me. I wasn't buying it.

"If anything is out of place when I wake up, I am going to beat the crap out of you. _"_ I threatened.

"Nothing will be out of place. And, none of the side-effects are going to be too severe. _"_

"What do you call not being able to touch water?Is that not severe to you? _"_

"You could have a tail, or Vulpix ears, or claws. In fact, you could be a hybrid of a Vulpix and a human.

"I guess that's true. _"_ I muttered. Mew smiled and closed her eyes to teleport. _"_ Wait, can we have a quick battle? _"_

"Don't you want to change back as quickly as you can? _"_ Mew asked with a gleam in her eyes.

"I do, but I want to see how well I would do against you. _"_ I replied. Mew smiled then snapped her fingers. The room transformed back into the Raum des Willens.

"First, you must activate the finally pillar. _"_ I nodded and took the key in my mouth. I trotted over to the pillar and stood up on my hind legs to reach the pillar's keyhole. Once the key was in, the pillar began to shine a bright green the entire room was bathed in mash colors. I looked back Mew and she snapped her fingers again. The room disappeared and was replaced with a room similar to the one we saw Mew in the real world.

"We will start on three. I don't want you getting hurt in here because it could cause complications. We are going by the one hit rule. _"_ Mew said as she got ready to start.

"Wait, what is the one hit rule? And what do you mean that it could cause complications? _"_ I asked nervously.

"The one hit rule is where each fighter can only get hit one time. It is a test of speed and agility mostly. As for the complications, if either one of us gets hurt too severely in here, it could affect the transformation process. That is why we are only doing the one hit rule; to make sure that doesn't happen. _"_ Mew said.

"Ok, I understand. _"_ I said. I got into a battle position and waited. Mew did the same. Mew made the first move. She formed a large blue circle in between her paws. The ball expanded into a very large Aura Sphere. She then launched the sphere at me. I jumped out of the way but just barely. I then returned an Ember attack. Comparing my Ember with the Aura Sphere would be like comparing a row boat with a battleship. It was nowhere near the same level, nor did it come anywhere close to hitting Mew.

"You have to do better than that if you want to hit me. _"_ Mew taunted. She threw her hands in the air and light began to gather in between them. I choked. When I saw her start the Solar Beam, I imagined how I would disintegrate as it hit. When I finally snapped myself out of my fear induced paralysis, the beam of dense light came flying at me. I couldn't dodge the wave since it was too wide.

"I hope this works! _"_ I yelled as I began to dig into the ground. How that was possible, was beyond me. It wasn't like there was dirt in my mind. The beam sailed over the hole I had dug. I jumped up out of the hole and shot more Embers at Mew. She knew what I was doing and threw up a barrier. When the smoke cleared Mew's pink barrier remained visible without a hint of damage.

"I really need to hurry this along. As much as I want to, I can't play all day. _"_ Mew sighed. Mew's barrier disappeared and she quickly ripped open a purple hole and flew inside. I frantically looked all around me. Mew was nowhere to be seen.

"Behind you. _"_ Mew said. I turned around and a large purple rift formed. Mew shot out. I didn't even feel the hit. I just collapsed. I gasped for air. Then my mind began to go blank. _"_ Darn it! I knew that would over do it! I better get out of here and make sure everything on the outside is alright! _"_ I heard Mew say before my mind shut down.

 **Sam's POV**

"What do you mean that I would learn the lesson first?" I demanded angrily.

"Jim, set up that gadget that the boss sent with us. _"_ the mystery man ordered. The man named Jim, who turned out to be the rude snob, opened up a metal briefcase and pulled out a small tripod. He pulled out a microphone and a small rectangular box. He screwed the box onto the tripod and plugged in the microphone.

"What is that?" Devin asked nervously.

"This is a Mark seven logistical recorder and translator. It can take the sounds of any language, human and Pokémon, and translate it for everyone to understand. It is a really nice piece of tech. You won't find it anywhere else except for Team Rocket. Charlie, everything is ready to go." Jim said as he flipped the on switch.

"So what do you have to say for yourself, agent?" Charlie asked.

"All I have to say is that I am sorry that this is happening to you, Samuel. My name is Joshua Marik, and I am an operative of Team Rocket. Albeit, a not very willing one." Marik said.

"You… you are with… with them?" I stammered in shock. Marik nodded slowly. My heart filled with ice. My emotions turned to bitter rage. One of my only friends I could completely trust was a spy. "How long?"

"Since you released me from that Pokéball for the first time." Marik replied. "Sam, you have to believe me when I say that it was painful for me to betray your trust."

"Why? For all I know, you aren't even a real Pokémon!" I yelled. The group of Rockets fell silent.

"I'm not even a real Pokémon, I'm just a twenty year old kid that can't keep food in his Mom's and his sibling's mouths." Marik replied quietly.

"I cannot believe this! Not only is my only Pokémon a turncoat, he is also a human nobody!" I yelled, seething with anger. After everything that had happened. Promising to help Caleb, escaping from the CPS, beating my first gym. Everything was a lie. A very elaborate lie. All of the people that helped me on this journey are not what they look like, whether they intended to deceive me or not. Caleb was really human, Katlyn was so much older than what she looked, Devin is the older brother, and Austin is the younger brother. I was fed up with all of the intrigue. All of the lies. If this was what a trainer was like, then I did not want any part of it. If I didn't have four guys with guns all around me, then I would have left right then and there. My emotions were a wreck and I didn't care. "I… don't… care anymore. You can shoot all of us. Or at least me. I am done with all of this secrecy and lies." I burned with hatred, anger, and malice.

"We aren't here to kill any of you. We just need to take the Mew with us. I assure you that we aren't here to hurt you or your friends." Charlie reassured.

"I don't care!" I roared as I lunged at the man. I had my hands balled into fists and was ready to hit when a stunner dart stuck into my side. The electrical pulse sent waves of pain throughout my body. I landed hard on the ground and began to convulse. However, my anger was sending to much adrenaline into my blood stream. I rose shakily to my feet and slowly walked towards the leader. When the waves of pain disappeared, I hardly noticed.

I had just about made it to Charlie when a soft hand touched my arm. I turned like a zombie and looked at the owner of the hand. It was Katlyn. She had been crying. Her face was dampened by the excess tears. She looked at me with pleading eyes.

"Samuel, don't do this. You don't have to do this alone. I'm here for you. We all are, but you just have to wait a little longer. Please wait. Please, do it for me." She pleaded. Her eyes showed so much sorrow. My icy heart began to defrost like the northern glaciers on a warm summer day. I regained my senses and looked at Katlyn dead in the eye.

"I won't let them harm you. I promise." I whispered. Katlyn's expression lifted greatly. She threw herself into a hug. I quietly hugged back. She started to cry again. This time she looked at me and smiled. I looked at her, and the anger began to return to my eyes "Katlyn, they need to pay. I am going to make them pay."

"Don't worry, their sins will find them out. Don't let the same thing happen to you." Katlyn said softly.

"I hate to break up your little brother/sister moment, but you guys are hostages. Start acting like it!" Jim demanded. Katlyn took a step back. I waited a few seconds and followed suite.

"Jim, don't you ever listen to the briefings? They aren't even related." one of the other soldiers spoke up.

"I realize that. You take things to literal sometimes Johnson. One of these days someone is going to order you to jump off a cliff and you are going to do it." Jim laughed. Then a thought came across Jim's face. He smiled wickedly. "Dillon, hand me the briefing file again., will ya?" the soldier asked.

The quietest man pulled out a roll of papers from one of his many combat vest pockets and handed it to Jim.

"Name: Katlyn Ward. Age: Twenty. Currently a student at the University of Kanto. Majoring in psychology. That is quite the accomplishment for such a small little girl. Says here that you had a nasty run in with a Banette. By the way, we found that thing awhile back. We made sure that he wouldn't be a problem for you to worry about anymore. As I was saying, judging by your sizes, I would say that no one is going to take you seriously when you open up your practice. Maybe you can have a little stand like in Charlie Brown." the man laughed. Katlyn began to tremble. She began to cling to me to the point that it was beginning to hurt.

"Katlyn, calm down. Don't let that fool get to you. He doesn't know what he is talking about." I tried to comfort. Katlyn relaxed slightly but suddenly tensed up again. Charlie began to approach us. I shielded Katlyn by having her stand behind me.

"Jim, cut it out. I don't need any headaches today." Charlie said. He then turned towards us. "I am sorry about my subordinate. He tends to be a little cruel when he is stressed." Charlies said. "Agent Marik, I believe that Giovanni himself wanted to see you as quickly as possible. We brought a field transport unit in order to get you to the boss immediately."

"Thank you Lieutenant. Just let me say goodbye." Marik said. "Sam, Katlyn, I am sorry that I tricked you. I couldn't keep my family fed and I got desperate. This seemed like the only option."

My eyes narrowed at my former friend. "No reason in this entire world will ever outweigh the trust that you betrayed." Marik's tail and head hung limply as he walked over to the other Rockets.

"Dillon, take Marik up to Alpha." Charles ordered. The soldier saluted then led Marik to the exit.

"You are forgetting this!" I shouted coldly as I threw his Pokéball towards the door. The soldier next to Marik picked up the ball and they left.

 **Mew's POV**

After the little battle, for lack of a better term, I left the dreamworld and began to check for any signs of stress. I was relieved when I found none and wiped my brow.

"I guess I can go get Sam now. Poor kid. This is a lot of responsibility for someone so young. _"_ I said out loud as snapped my fingers. A rift formed and turned into the archway of the door. I floated through it and was enveloped by the darkness as jumped into the normal world. The sound of the large stone doors reached my ears as a crevice of light appeared directly ahead of me. I quickly flew through it.

" _Sam, I'm ready for…. Argh!"_ I screeched as something sharp dug into my skin. The agony increased as electricity began to pour through my body. As the pain grew, I could no longer concentrate on staying afloat. I fell to the ground. Even after the electricity had stopped, my body writhed and twitched uncontrollably. Before I could regain my senses, a net was flung over me. I tried to struggle and bite my way free but the net began to pulse a yellow hue. My strength was being sucked clean out of me and there was nothing I could do about. Darkness then began to cloud my mind.

 **Katlyn's POV**

Everything happened so fast that Mew couldn't react. She was hit by an electrical dart and went down fast. As soon as she crashed to the floor, the Rockets tossed several nets over her. Once they began to glow, it was obvious that Mew was getting weaker. Once she completely stopped struggling, the Rockets threw her into a small cage and began to carry her off.

Charlie turned around and looked at me straight in the eyes. "Wait ten minutes before you leave this tower. If you don't we won't be able to guarantee your safety." he said. I nodded my compliance and waited for them to disappear.

"What are we going to do now?" Devin asked as soon as the men were out of sight. I didn't even bother with response. I just ran to the door Mew had exited moments before and jumped through it. The familiar darkness surrounded me as I ran to the other side. Soon, the darkness cleared out and was replaced by the room of pulsating lights. Not far from the door lay a small object. It moved slightly as it breathed. I quickly realized that this was Caleb.

"Is that your brother? Man, he sure got the short end of the stick out of this deal." Devin said with a nervous laugh. I shot him a deadly glare that could have beaten Arceus himself. Devin muttered something under his breath and looked at the ground.

"This might constitute a new problem." Austin said as he looked down at Caleb.

"What part? The part that he is a baby, the part where we don't have anything for a baby or the part where none of us have experience with babies!" Sam exclaimed slightly irritated.

"Don't forget that Mew is the only one that can make him older." Devin added. Austin looked to me, and I looked down at Lawrence. Lawrence hadn't said a word and just stared at Caleb in disbelief.

"Well, at least he is human again. _"_ Lawrence finally said.

"It's going to be a small problem when he wakes up. He is going to flip out." I said.

"What are you guys waiting for? Get him off the floor!" Lawrence nearly shouted.

"Oh, right." I said sheepishly. I took off my jacket and stared down at it for a second. It was my Dad's camo jacket that Caleb gave to me when everything started. I picked him up and wrapped him tightly in it. "Ok, let's get out of here." I said.

We made it to the top floor and hit another snag. There was no real way to get out of the tower when there was no ladder to get out with. Plus Caleb was too small to make any climb safely, not to mention Devin's arm. After about ten minutes of discussion, Austin and Sam went off to find something that could help us climb. Devin wandered around the room for a bit. I really didn't pay him any attention since I was holding Caleb. It wasn't until Devin began tapping me on the shoulder, that I began to pay any attention to him.

"Katlyn, look at what I just found." Devin said as he offered me a piece of paper.

"I can't really take it right now. What does it say?" I asked.

"It's a message from someone in that organization. It has the coordinates of the base where they took Mew."

"How do you know that?" I asked skeptically.

"It says so, smart one. The notes says and I quote, "We are not all like we seem. If you want to find Mew, you will find her at fifty-four degrees north and twenty-five degrees west. Do not come here without the authorities. It is too dangerous. Signed anonymous." Devin read. I looked at him in disbelief. I practically juggled Caleb to free up my other arm to grab the paper. I read it then reread it.

"You need to give this to your brother when he gets back." I said with a hint of excitement.

"Give what to me?" Austin said as he walked up behind us.

"Your brother found something pretty interesting." I said.

"We found something interesting as well." Sam added. Before I could ask what it was, a pink blur floated right into me.

"MK! Where did you come from!" I exclaimed as the little Mew floated erratically around me.

" _They took my mom! They took her! Please! You have to get her back!"_ MK pleaded as tears rolled down his pointed little face.

"Sshh. We will get her back. Don't worry about it. Besides, we need to find her anyways."

" _Why? She already helped Caleb didn't she?"_ MK asked.

"Not quite. She made him human, but he is in a pretty big predicament." I explained. "In fact, here he is."

" _Wow, he is a lot smaller than I thought he would be. I thought he would be bigger because Mom told me that he was old."_

"He isn't that big because he isn't that old you twit. _"_ Lawrence said as he rolled his eyes. MK began to say something else, but Sam cut him off.

"What did you find?" he asked.

"I found a note from one of the Rockets. It has the coordinates of the base they took Mew." Devin said excitedly.

"Really? Let me see." Austin said as I handed him the paper.

"This is great! Now we just have to get there and..."

"And what? Storm the castle? We can't just go in there. That would be suicide!" Sam interrupted. "IF, and that's a big if, we do go to this base. How do we get inside? How do we know it's not a trap? And what do we do with Caleb?"

"We can just leave Caleb with my parents. That is easy enough." I answered.

"It can't be a trap because they had us trapped earlier." Devin explained.

"I'll admit those do make sense, but how do we get in? We can't just waltz through the front door." Sam said.

"We cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, lets get back to Emily and the others." Austin said.

 **Emily's POV**

"Teresa! I just got a call from Austin, they want me to meet them at the hospital. They sent Katlyn and Caleb back here and want you to wait for them here." I called as I grabbed my jacket. I prayed silently that everyone was ok and opened the door. Katlyn was already standing in the doorway preparing to knock.

"I see that Katlyn is already here. Where is Caleb?" Teresa asked.

"Yeah, I just got a call from Austin what happened?" I asked.

"Devin fell and broke his arm. As for Caleb, things didn't got quite as planned. He… He changed back but he isn't… well, see for yourself." Katlyn moved a small bundle in arm into a position we could both see.

"Why am I not surprised?" I muttered as I looked at the sleeping baby wrapped in the bundle. "This is getting a little weird for me, I'm going to go see Austin and Devin. Teresa, can you help Katlyn?"

"Of course, I would be happy to." Teresa exclaimed. I sighed at her enthusiasm.

 **Emily's POV**

The hospital was right across the street. By the time I got there, Austin and Devin were standing outside the hospital. Devin looked somewhat pale, as if something had scared him, but Austin seemed somewhat upset.

"Austin! Devin! What happened?" I asked as I ran up to them.

"Well, a certain somebody didn't listen to me and got his arm broken." Austin said as he jabbed his thumb towards Devin. Devin smiled sheepishly.

"I was right, though. It was way more exciting than sitting around listening to Teresa." Devin beamed. It only lasted for a few seconds because Austin gave him a good slap upside the head.

"This is serious! You are lucky there weren't any ghost type Pokémon in there!" Austin.

"What would they be able to do to me? Scare me to death." Devin retorted.

"hmm, let's just explore that shall we." Austin pulled out his Pokedex and began scanning through the pages. "Here we go. Drifloon; know to drag children off. Litwick: known for sucking out people's souls. Shedinja: known for sucking your soul out of you. Duskull, this one is especially for you. Duskull wanders lost among the deep darkness of midnight. There is an oft-told admonishment given to misbehaving children that this Pokémon will spirit away bad children who earn scoldings from their mothers." Devin's face paled even more than before.

"Holy Crap! This places puts A Thousand Ways to Die to shame! At home it's a thousand ways to die but here it's like a billion ways to die!" Devin nearly shouted.

"And you wonder why I don't want you disappearing from view or not listening to me. I know a lot more about this world than you. I know how dangerous it can be. You need to listen to me." Austin chided.

"I realize that, but you need to realize that I can do a lot more than you give me credit for. Besides, how do you think Mom would feel if she knew that you went up against guys with guns and how do you think she would feel if she knew that we got separated for more than a week?" Devin asked.

"Look, we both decided that it was neither one of our fault for getting separated. As for the whole gun thing, I really don't think that stunners count as guns." Austin said. "Just because you were able to survive a week without me doesn't mean I want you doing anything stupid or dangerous."

"Ok guys, the round has ended. Devin, I didn't know if you were stuck here or not so I brought this with me." I said as I hand Devin the stuffed animal. His face brightened up for a second, but then it turned to a deep red blush.

"T-that's ok. I d-don't want it. Did you have to bring it in public?" Devin asked nervously.

"Devin, You look like a kid, nobody is going to think twice about the stuffed animal." Austin said with a sigh.

"Oh alright. I'll take the stupid thing." Devin muttered. Despite Devin's charade, we all knew that it would act as a comfort for him.

"I'm guessing that you wanted me down here besides just to walk with y'all back to the room. What did y'all want to discuss?" I asked.

"Well, we ran into a snag, the Mew got captured by the Mafia." Devin said rather loudly.

"What do you mean "Mafia"?" I asked uneasily.

"They are an organization called Team Rocket. They basically are the equivalent of the Mafia back home. They snagged Mew the moment she came out to get Sam. She needed Sam to donate a few years so Caleb wouldn't be stuck as a baby.

"So that's why he was a baby. That was really bugging me." I said as I connected the dots. "So what does that mean for us? Is our part done? Or, do we have to save the Mew in order to go home?"

Austin shook his head slowly, then looked between me and Devin.

"Devin thinks that we did our part, that all we had to do was make sure that they found Mew. I think that we have to make sure that everything is completed. That we have to find and free Mew." Austin said.

"That is a dilemma. Honestly, I want to go home. I want this to all be over, but I also want to make sure we do this right. I don't want to meet up with Celebi and she say that we can't go back because we didn't finish the job." I said. Austin looked as though he was about to gloat, but I interrupted him. "However, your little note book says that we only had to make sure that Katlyn and Caleb made it to Mew."

"Come on guys. This kid got his whole life shaken upside down. He makes it back to being human, but he has to start all over because of someone's greed. We need to help him!" Austin tried to persuade.

"Austin, I don't think we are supposed to take down this world's equivalent of the Mafia. Caleb gets his humanity back, he should be happy that he got that. Sure it will suck for him to grow all the way up again, but that is just how the dice rolled." Devin said quietly.

"Look, we will think about helping. Let's give it a day or two to think about." I said. A downtrodden Austin nodded slowly.

 **Dr. Mitchel's POV**

"Doctor, your newest project is on it's way." Giovanni said with a self-satisfied smirk on his face. I sat calmly in a chair in front of the man's desk. The room was unnaturally bright which, seemed to reflect the man's mood. I shuddered as the man slowly rubbed his Persian's head.

"Does that mean that you have acquired the Mew, sir? Not just a fossil?" I asked.

"Yes, Doctor Mitchel. I first want to get thirty DNA test samples, just in case something goes wrong. Then I want you to do a full anatomical analysis of the Mew. We need to learn as much as we can about the Pokémon. I don't want any invasive procedures done, before I give the ok."

"Yes, sir. I will make sure that the specimen does not come in contact with any sharp objects." I jested. Giovanni didn't like my sense of humor one bit, but I interrupted him before he could make a comment. "Sir? Are you expecting trouble?"

"As a leader, you always fear for the worst. That is how you survive." Giovanni answered. "Doctor Mitchel, before you go, you should find a particular Ninetales in your lab. Because of your success with reinventing the nano probes, I have decided to return your Grandson to his normal form. Don't make me regret my decision."

"Yes, sir! I won't let you down sir!" I said excitedly, I knew that my grandson would be excited as well.

* * *

I hope y'all enjoyed the chapter. I really hope this story is coming out well. I only have a few chapters left before it's over. If anyone has anything to say y'all know what to do. If you are enjoying the story, be sure to smash that favorite/follow button. On one last note, be sure to check out A New Age. It is the story of Devin, Austin, and Emily. It will follow up until they meet Katlyn for the first. This is shieldliger001 signing off.


	38. Chapter 38

So, I couldn't remember if I published a chapter of ANA and two chapters of OMAA or only one chapter of OMAA. In the end it didn't matter because I was having some writer's block on how to start the next chapter of ANA. This chapter took my mind off of ANA for a bit. Anyways, it is Spring Break here in Texas. I am ready for the break. I had to take the TSI test on Thursday and I had a Geometry test on Friday. I took the TSI test in order to get into dual credit classes for English Comp I and II, Government, and Economics. I am happy to say that I passed the test and will be allowed to take those classes. With luck, that gets two of my college credits out of the way. Anyways, enough of my babbling and on to the reviews.

Monpoke: I am not sure what you mean, but no I did not change any titles.

Rayrudan: Ha ha, That does seem like something Giovanni would pull, but I'm not that mean so I won't let it happen to poor doctor Mitchel's grandson. Or will I? Lol.

Caitou zzzzzz: My interpretation is that Celebi must protect the time line with out getting directly involved. If every one of the legendaries got involved in a conflict, then it would literally be the end of the world. Hence Austin, Devin, and Emily. Their job was to get Katlyn and Caleb to Mew, which they did. However, she didn't say how many times.

Phillip Harbindinger: I don't like the idea of an incompetent team. If they were incompetent like their game counterparts then in reality, there would be no team. Besides, in the anime and manga the teams are somewhat competent with Jessie, James and Meowth the only truly incompetent ones. Thanks for letting me know about the to/too mistake. At least it is a sign that I am making less and less to/too mistakes

Mades: Raum is German for room. Raum des Willens means Room of Will.

I saw this quote and couldn't help but to use it. It describes me pretty well.

* * *

 **The desire to write grows with writing.**

 **Desiderius Erasmus**

* * *

 **Chapter 38**

 **Caleb's POV**

The darkness ended; surrendering to the cold glow of LED lights above me. I tried to move around but I was restricted by a heavy cloth. I looked around as best I could and could barely tell that I was back in the room at the Pokémon Center. I didn't feel like I was on a bed and I definitely didn't feel like I was on the ground. That left only one other option. I began to blush a deep red. I tried to protest but only one or two words came out somewhat understandable. 'That stupid Mew. She jacked up my speech didn't she!' I fumed as I tried another tactic. I began to squirm and wiggle to at least let whoever know that I was ready to be put down. I sighed in relief when a voice expressed my discomfort.

"Katlyn, he is awake, and I think he wants down!" a voice said excitedly.

"Great. Just great." Katlyn muttered. She seemed dismayed. Definitely not the way I thought she would sound.

'If Katlyn isn't holding me, who is? Please say it isn't Emily. That is flat out embarrassing.' I thought as I felt my body shift a little. In the new position, I found that I could see the person carrying me. It turned out to be Teresa. I sighed out of relief, and tried to talk again. I wanted to ask about being put down but the only word that came out halfway correctly was 'down'. I sighed again and looked at her with pleading eyes. A few seconds later, Katlyn appeared. The weird thing is that she didn't seem any bit bigger.

"Hey Caleb. I don't know if you still remember me or not so blink twice if you understand me." Katlyn said to me.

'Why do you not know if I remember you?' I questioned as I blinked twice. Katlyn sighed despondently.

"In a way, I wish you didn't remember me." she muttered in response. "I guess the first thing that you should know is that you are human again. The bad news is that Mew wasn't able to finish.

'What do you mean, Mew wasn't able to finish? I don't have a tail do I?' I tried to scream. Instead, all that came out was babble.

Katlyn somehow guessed what I was saying, "No, there aren't any Vulpix appendages attached to you. Although your hair is a dusty red color. What I mean is that Mew kind of got captured when she went outside to get Sam."

'What? You have got to be pulling my leg.' Katlyn looked at me sympathetically.

"MK, could you go get that mirror I told you to get earlier." the little fur ball floated into view.

"But I couldn't find it! _"_ the little Mew whined.

"Boys. You are all as blind as bats." Katlyn moaned as she walked off to find the mirror.

"Hi Caleb. How's it going? _"_ MK asked me. I began to respond but suddenly stopped. _"_ Oh that's right. Your sister said you might not be able to talk. Just think and I'll read your thoughts.

" _So let me guess. Your mom didn't finish so I am stuck not being able to talk because she didn't finish. Am I right?"_

"Yep, that is the gist of it. _"_ MK said almost too cheerfully.

" _So that means Katlyn is tell the truth that I am not totally fixed. MK, could you do me a favor and broadcast everything I am about to say to everyone here?"_ I asked with swaying calmness.

"You bet! Just think it and they'll hear it. _"_ MK said with a small salute.

" _Good. Katlyn! Get me out of Teresa's arms right now! If you make a single baby joke I will freaking murder you in your sleep when I can! I have a lot of pent up anger inside me at the moment, and if you don't want me to release it, I would suggest hurrying!"_ I yelled as loud as possible in my head. A few seconds later, a startled Katlyn came into the room. She looked at me as if I was possessed.

"H-how did you do t-that?" Katlyn stammered. I stared at her in utter disbelief.

" _It's a lost art Mew taught me while I was in that other room."_ I said in a believable tone.

"Really?"

" _No not really! Are you that dense? MK is the one doing this!"_ I yelled, causing Katlyn to flinch.

"You don't need to yell." Katlyn complained.

" _I'm not yelling! My thoughts are yelling! Your thoughts would be yelling too if you wake up in someone's arms as a freaking baby, without the ability to talk!"_ I vented. I didn't notice at first but my body began to tremble. I stopped my thoughts for a second as I realized what my body was about to do. A few seconds later, I let out a loud wail. I shocked myself at my cry. I couldn't control it either. It was as if I was disconnect from parts of my body.

"Teresa, let me see him." I heard Katlyn say over my crying. Teresa easily shifted me into Katlyn's waiting arms and I stared up her as I sobbed. She began to shush me and tried calming me down.

" _Katlyn! I'm not actually a baby! Put me down!"_ my thoughts exploded. Katlyn didn't even flinch this time instead she just sat on the bed and continued to comfort me. After a few minutes of me crying, I stopped to my relief. _"Katlyn, can you put me on the bed now? I can at least handle that."_ I asked. Katlyn paid no heed. _"Katlyn? Can you hear me?"_ I asked. Again, she did not respond. I looked around as best as I could and realized that MK was no where in sight. I sighed and just let Katlyn hold me. I was too tired to be embarrassed or angry anymore and I quickly feel asleep.

 **Katlyn's POV**

"Teresa, do you think you could watch Caleb, while I go to the store?" I asked with a small sigh. I knew Caleb wasn't going to like this but it really can't be helped.

"You better find Sam before you do anything. We wouldn't want any trouble." Teresa replied. I rolled my eyes and knocked on the bathroom door.

"Sam? We need to go to the store and pick up a few things for Caleb are you coming, or what?" I asked hurriedly.

"I'm coming, just give me a minute. MK decided to explore the kitchenette and found a jar of peanut butter that someone left behind. He got it all over himself and me." Sam replied.

"So that's why Caleb stopped yelling in my head. How long do you think you guys are going to be?" I asked.

"I'd say about fifteen minutes. He made quite the mess." Sam replied.

I just messed around on my phone for the first few minutes. I contemplated on calling my parents but decided that would be best after we got what we needed for Caleb. Caleb slept peacefully on the bed with Teresa watching to make sure he didn't roll off. He was so small that I could hardly recognize him. He reminded me of all the times I treated him badly as a kid. Some of it was because we were siblings and it is natural for siblings to fight. However, I had a large resentment for him. I always felt that he had ruined my relationship with my parents. They were always watching him and it made me jealous. In a way, I felt that it was my fault that things happened this. Of course, I can never know how things could have been.

Sam came out with a rather annoyed look on his face. He had a soaked towel in his hands and his shirt was completely covered with peanut butter. MK floated out with a pout. His fur was covered with soap and water. I couldn't help myself when I burst out laughing. Sam began to grumble and went off to search for a clean shirt. MK just hovered around me.

"What made you decide to make such a mess?" I asked with a snicker.

"It smelled good. I didn't know that it would be hard to get off. _"_ MK muttered. _"_ Then Sam decided that he had to help get that stuff off of me. _"_

"Maybe you should spend more time with Sam. It would drive him up the wall." I laughed.

MK looked at me with a smirk and a wicked gleam formed in his eye. _"_ Good idea! Maybe I can help him with his problems with Marik! _"_

'What did I just do.' I asked myself as the little Mew floated after Sam.

After another ten minutes, we were ready to go. Sam grumbled as we walked down the streets. MK, who took on the form of a Pikachu, was perched on his shoulder; annoying the crap out of him mentally. By the time we made it to the store, Sam's face was a deep shade of crimson.

"Katlyn, you better hurry and get the things you need because I am about to kill him." Sam muttered angrily.

"Alright, I'll try to hurry." I muttered with a chuckle.

I led Sam down several aisles until we came upon the one with all the items we needed. Sam grabbed a cart and I began tossing things into it. I picked up things ranging from clothes to bottles. I knew Caleb was just going to enjoy the bottles. He just loved them when everything began.

"You should get this shirt, Katlyn." Sam smirked. I began to chuckle. The shirt was a neon blue, and read "troublemaker" on it.

"I don't think he would like that to much." I replied.

"Yeah, probably not." Sam agreed. Sam face seemed to spark with remembrance "Hey did you call your parents?"

"No, I thought about it but decided to get this stuff first. Get this stuff checked out and I'll call them up." Sam nodded and I pulled out my phone. After hitting my parent's speed dial, I placed the phone up to my ear and waited. The phone rang for several seconds before someone picked up on the other end.

"Katlyn! It's about time you called! Your Mother and I have been worried sick! Is everything ok?" My Dad exclaimed.

"Hey Dad. Things… things didn't quite go as planned." I confessed softly.

"I see. So you weren't able to change back. I can tell by the sound of your voice. Is Caleb back to normal, or is he still a Pokémon?"

"He is… human, but Mew was… unable to return him to his proper age. He is about as old as his Vulpix body was." I answered carefully.

"Katlyn, stop beating around the bush. Now tell me, what happened to your brother?" Dad deadpanned. A loud boom in the background made Dad's voice twice as menacing.

"Was that thunder?" I asked nervously.

"Yes, there is a severe thunder storm heading our way it's not quite here, but it is causing some major damage out to the north. Now stop stalling and tell me what happened to your brother."

"He is a baby!" I said quickly.

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that. What did you say?" Dad asked incredulously.

"Dad, he is like a seven month old! He is literally a baby! I'm not saying that he is a wimp! I mean that he is literally a baby!" I nearly yelled into the phone earning looks from several of the store's patrons.

"Honey? The county just issued a tornado warning it looks like that storm is getting pretty bad. They are shutting down all of the roads. Honey? Are you ok? You look pale." I heard Mom's voice say over the phone.

"Katlyn, stay in Lavender Town. We will be there as soon as we can." Dad said quietly.

"Yes, sir." I said as I hung up the phone.

A few minutes later, Sam came over with an overwhelming number of bags. He seemed to be struggling so I took a few off of him.

"So how did it go?" Sam asked when I didn't say anything.

"My dad took it better than I thought he would." I mumbled. "They said to stay here. They are probably going to be here in a few days.

"If they are driving, it shouldn't take them that long." Sam pointed out.

"Yeah, well as luck would have it, there is a huge storm just north of them. The county has a tornado warning at the moment. So it will either be sometime tomorrow or the day after before they get here, if not longer." I added.

"Great, well I am not doing any cleaning. He is your brother. He is your responsibility." Sam said steadfastly.

"Gee, thanks. I'll be sure to remember that whenever you ask me for a favor."

"Yeah, yeah. Let's get this stuff back to the room. I'm tired of everyone staring." Sam said with a roll of his eyes.

 **Devin's POV**

We returned to a nearly empty room. The only occupants were Zan, Teresa, and a sleeping Caleb. I began to pack up a few things just in case we decided to leave. I had a feeling that Austin would get his way. However, that was no reason not to be prepared if we did decide to leave. Austin frowned when I began to pack, but I didn't care. A few minutes later, Teresa began to shift uncomfortably. Hope was moving around, wanting some attention. Teresa looked around only to find that Austin and Emily had moved off out of the room.

"Devin make sure he doesn't roll off the bed while I feed Hope." Teresa said as she quickly placed him next to me. I looked down at him in mild amusement. Teresa picked up Hope and began to rock her gently. Teresa then walked into the kitchenette and went about getting the things for Hope.

Zan, who had been asleep when we got back, was now wide awake. He jumped up onto the bed and glanced at Caleb. Somehow he knew who it was and a weird kind of smirk formed on his muzzle. He laid next to the sleeping baby like a guardian and watched him carefully.

"I really wish that MK or Lawrence was here. At least that way we would be able to know what you were saying. Zan's narrowed dangerously and I knew not to disrupt him again. We just sat there quietly as we waited for Teresa to return. The door to our room began to open. Zan looked over at it curiously. Katlyn and Sam walked in with an arm load of groceries. MK, floating above them whooshed to and fro excitedly.

"Hey, Caleb! We brought you some things from the store! _"_ the little Mew shouted. I groaned as Caleb's eyes struggled awake.

"MK, we didn't want to wake him if he was asleep! Now he is awake and we are going to have to listen to him cry!" Katlyn yelled angrily. Caleb began to thrash about angrily about the accusation, and began to jabber incoherently. His dark blue eyes told all of his pent up anger through his harsh stares. His stares turned soft though as he realized that nobody understood. He looked up at MK pleadingly.

" _Fine, but you are going to have to stop the yelling. It makes my head hurt."_ MK huffed. _"You are on the air."_

" _I don't cry!"_ Caleb yelled. I flinched, not expecting the sudden angry thoughts in my head.

" _Will, you stop yelling? It hurts my own head as well as everyone else."_ MK said irritably.

" _Sorry."_ Caleb muttered. He then looked at Katlyn as best he could. He was lying on his back so he had very little room to turn his head toward us.

"Oh for the love, Caleb." Katlyn sighed. She scooped her tightly wrapped brother up and held him firmly.

" _Katlyn! Put me down!"_ Caleb whined.

"I don't care if you get embarrassed. Right now I just don't care. Also, I want my jacket back, so we need to get you dressed." Katlyn said with an iron will. Caleb's eyes widened as Katlyn grabbed a few of the bags she had brought in. She marched straight into the bathroom and closed the door. "MK! I want you to stop the telepathy thing until I come back out!" Katlyn shouted through the door.

" _Alright!"_ MK replied. He then began to float around us.

" _You guys need to hear this! Katlyn can't hear him, but I'll make it to where you can."_ MK snickered.

"What? What's he saying?" Sam and I asked.

" _Katlyn, stop! Don't come near me with that! Stay away! Somebody help me!"_ Caleb's voice filled my head.

"Caleb, stop squirming! The faster you are dressed, the faster we can get done with this." Katlyn said impatiently.

"It sounds like she is murdering him." I whispered. Sam smirked and then began to laugh. I joined in until a loud wail pierced the laughter. Caleb was crying. I covered my ears to block out the sound, but it still hurt my ears. The piercing cry turned into a soft sob then became low whimpering. The door opened and Katlyn carried Caleb out. I didn't see what was so bad about his clothes. They just looked like miniature clothes that I would wear. He had on a small pair of khaki shorts and a small red tee shirt. He also had a pair of socks on, and some small black tennis shoes. Katlyn sighed and placed Caleb on the bed in a sitting position. Caleb, amazingly, stayed sitting up. He was pouting and his eyes looked as though they were ready to burst back into tears.

"What did she do to you?" I asked the seven month old.

" _I don't want to talk about it."_ He replied in my thoughts. I looked at Sam who had a big smirk on his face. He leaned over and began to whisper in my ear.

"Oh for the love of all things living, I put these on him." Katlyn said with a roll of her eyes. She handed me a plastic package.

"Diapers? Oh that sucks. Glad I'm not you Caleb. Being five again is bad enough, you have to start all over." I snickered. Caleb looked downright pitiful. His bottom lip was puffed out and he looked as though he would start crying any second.

"If you make him cry, I will make you cry. You got that?" Katlyn said through gritted teeth. I gulped and nodded.

"Hey Teresa." I said quickly as the mother dinosaur came back into the room.

"Devin, what did you do?" Teresa asked me suspiciously.

"I didn't do anything! Why does everyone assume that I did something wrong?" I whined.

"Because, you rarely ever greet me unless you are trying to change the subject of something." Teresa replied.

"He is giving Caleb a hard time." Katlyn said with a roll of her eyes.

"Devin Lee, do I need to get your brother?" Teresa asked threateningly.

"No! Please don't! He is already mad at me for the whole wandering off incident! I don't need him on my back for something stupid!" I exclaimed.

"Then you better knock it off." Teresa deadpanned.

" _Hey guys, I stopped let_ _ting_ _Caleb talk to everyone. Do y'all want me to let him speak?"_ MK asked.

"Not just yet. I want to make some rules concerning Caleb."

"Shouldn't we wait for my brother and Emily?" I asked.

"Where did they go?" Katlyn asked in annoyance.

"I don't know. I think that they wanted to talk somewhere alone." I replied. I pulled out my phone and tried to call them, but neither of them answered their phones.

"They aren't answering." I said as I put my phone down. Katlyn gave an irritated sigh.

"I guess we are going to wait for them."

 **Austin's POV**

The cafeteria of the Pokémon center was nearly empty which was understandable since it was starting to get late. We sat quietly next to a darkening window as nighttime approached. Both Emily and I were downtrodden. Torn between the choices of staying or leaving. I still wanted to stay and help. Emily wanted to help, but she was leaning towards going home. I couldn't blame her. I missed my parents a lot, but I still thought that we needed to stay and help. What kind of people would we be if we just left someone who needed help? I knew our parent's thought we were dead. I would think we were dead if I were them. Emily stared out the window intently. The darkness had not set in just yet and the streets were still full of people going about their business. It was a Friday night so I assumed that the night had just begun for most of the people that were out and about. They walked about; going on with their lives. I wondered how many of them knew that there were things that could ruin their lives with a twitch of their finger. How many of them knew that there were things to worry about besides their taxes, or terrorist? How many knew that one thing they did outside the safety of their cities and towns could result in the destruction of their world as they know it? I sighed at these thoughts. If it is true here, it had to be true in our world too. I looked over at Emily. She had similar thoughts running through her mind. She seemed depressed and saddened, and there wasn't much of anything that I could do.

"Austin, I miss my parents. I want to see them and hug them, and I don't want to stay here forever. It is an amazing world, but it isn't for me." Emily said softly. I didn't have anything to say. I just sat there waiting for her to continue. "Do you actually think that we have to save Mew?" I nodded slowly. "He he, of course you do. I think we need to work this out then. I think it is too dangerous. If we weren't forced here then I wouldn't have pulled any of the stunts that we had to pull. I think… I think me and Devin will stay with Caleb and help. I don't want to face those guys in their home field. They had stunners the last time, whose to say that they won't have real guns?"

"Alright, that is probable the best idea anyway with Devin the way he is. I'll talk to Katlyn about what they are doing." I replied with a faint smile tugging at my lips.

 **Caleb's POV**

After Katlyn forced me into the diaper, I sat on the bed pouting. Katlyn didn't seem to notice. Instead, she seemed more surprised that I was sitting up. I guess it was a big deal since I was technically seven months old, but I didn't see why it interested her so much. MK began to hover next to me and stared at me. Even Zan showed signs of interest.

" _I told you that you should have stayed a Vulpix."_ Zan said with a smirk. I looked at MK who just shrugged.

" _How was I supposed to know? I thought that I would be normal,_ _or at least old enough to talk_ _, not a defenseless baby."_ I thought hotly. I looked over at Katlyn who seemed to not know about our conversation.

" _Come on Caleb, my mom said that there are a lot of humans that would die to be in your position."_ MK said innocently.

" _He is right, but I think they would probably want to be a few sizes larger if you catch my drift."_ Zan laughed.

" _I hate you. I hate you both."_ I pouted. Zan laughed, but MK seemed upset. Zan noticed this and looked at the little Mew quizzically.

" _What's wrong with you, kid?"_ Zan asked. MK looked as though he was about to cry. I realized what I had said and thought of something to say.

" _MK I'm sorry, I didn't mean I actually hate you. I was just upset. You can't imagine how ha_ _r_ _d all of this is for me to cope with. If I seem upset with you, it's not because I am really mad at you I'm just mad at this whole situation."_ I explained. MK's mood changed back to his normal, giddy self.

" _I figured that when I became human again, that you wouldn't want to talk to me."_ I told Zan. Zan looked at me with a large smile. His one good eye shined brightly.

" _I am hurt that you would think that. The truth is that I only act that way to Katlyn, to get her goat. I see how it bothers her and I find it hilarious. I respect your sister very much. If you tell her that I will deny every word of it."_ Zan smirked.

" _Zan? How long do you think that I will be this way? Do you think that my sister will just hand me off to my parents and leave?"_ I asked sadly.

" _Caleb, your sister loves you very much. She will never leave you like this without trying to help you."_ I sighed in relief. That relief didn't last very long however. _"I wouldn't put all of your hope into getting a few years older. I heard about what was supposed to happen. You can hope that it happens but don't get too upset if things don't work out. Life is to good to throw away when you put t_ _o_ _o much hope into something."_

" _Is that why Jack is always so happy_ _and not always upset_ _?"_ I asked.

" _Yes, that is why he is so happy."_ Zan replied.

" _You guys are getting really boring. Let's play a game!"_ MK exclaimed.

" _What kind of game would you like Caleb to play? He can't exactly run around."_ Zan questioned.

" _What can human babies do to have fun if they can't run?"_ MK asked with a tilt of his head.

" _I have no clue. Most babies just watch people to learn things like talking and walking."_ I said glumly. MK's ears fell. His former excitement completely disappeared.

" _Even if you could play, I'd say that you wouldn't have any time to do anything. Emily and Austin just came through the door."_ Zan said.

 **Katlyn's POV**

As soon as Emily and Austin came in, I made sure everybody was in the same room. It was kind of weird seeing the room full of kids. When I was seven years old the first time around, I stayed with my parents. The idea of having no parents around never even crossed my mind. Inpatients seemed to spread like a disease. In order to prevent a riot, I began to speak.

"Guys, we need to make some rules concerning Caleb." Everyone looked at me strangely and Caleb gave me an almost horrified look.

"What do you mean?" Sam said quizzically.

"I mean, that we have to be careful with what we do and say. My parents won't be able to come for at least two days. I checked and thankfully our house missed a majority of the bad weather, but the airport as well as the main interstates are closed down for the next day or two because of damage."

"I think she means that no one should be talking about Caleb outside this room until we can get to her house." Austin helped.

"Exactly. If we are forced to take Caleb out in public, no one is to speak to him like an adult. MK is not to allow him to speak mentally, and we must avoid any question concerning parents." I said. "Caleb, I know that this is going o be hard for you, but for now you don't exist until Mom and Dad get here."

Caleb let out an audible groan and looked at me pleadingly. He obviously wanted to speak but MK already started with 'no telepathy' rule.

"MK, you can let him speak in here. Just not out in public." I sighed.

"Oh ok." MK smiled and began to rub his head.

" _Katlyn, I hope you know what you are doing."_ Caleb said quietly.

* * *

I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter. I thought that it should be a little humorous since the last few chapters were somewhat serious. Let me know if y'all thought it was funny or not. I am always open for suggestions and feed back. This is shieldliger001 signing off.


	39. Chapter 39

Hey guys. I know many of you think that I have forgot about this story. Don't worry, I have not. I had a lot going on so I didn't have a lot of time to write. Anyways, I just wanted to apologize for that right quick. This school year is almost over, which means I will be doing more writing as long as I can keep up with some dual credit classes I am taking. Let's get on with the reviews.

Monpoke: As always, thanks for your continued support. I was going for a little bit of humor in the last chapter.

Caitou zzzzzz: You're right maybe he could be a prodigy, but then again after this fiasco he may not want to be.

Mades: I when back in my document and had Raum spelled correctly. However, when I looked at it on the fanfiction doc manager it did some auto-correct thing and screwed up the word completely. I then just wasn't paying any attention when I was fixing it and switched it to Ruam. For that, I apologize. It made me look like I was making fun of a culture, when all I wanted was to make an interesting place. As for the "Room of wills" that was just a typo. I have a lot of German blood in me from both sides of my family, which was one of the reasons I wanted to use the German language in my story in one way or another. Again I am sorry for my carelessness.

Philip Harbindinger: I know what you mean by the awkwardness age regression/progression can bring in the story. That is not the reason I did it in this story. I used it as a motivator.

* * *

 **Bad things do happen; how I respond to them defines my character and the quality of my life. I can choose to sit in perpetual sadness, immobilized by the gravity of my loss, or I can choose to rise from the pain and treasure the most precious gift I have-life itself.**

 **Walter Anderson**

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 **Chapter 39**

 **Sam's POV**

For the most part, we slept peacefully. There was only one incident where Caleb woke up screaming, but it turned out to be just a nightmare. We all went back to sleep as soon as we could. I tried but it was no use. I thought on my current situation concerning my trainer ID. I was a trainer with no Pokémon. There was hardly any way for me to catch a Pokémon and buying one would be out of the question. MK kept saying that he would help me, but he is way to obnoxious for my tastes.

I stared up at the ceiling until I lost track of time. My thoughts drifted from my lack of Pokémon to the fact that we were stuck here for at least another day. As long as nothing went wrong, it would be easy to hide Caleb. Of course, our luck has not only sucked, but it has also been the luck of some heinous criminal. When Katlyn's parents do get here, then what? Do they just take Katlyn and Caleb, and leave? Do they let Katlyn help get Mew back? Do they even want to pursue the chance to make Caleb a little bit older? I rubbed my head out of exhaustion. It was to late to be thinking deep thoughts and I didn't know what tomorrow would bring. I closed my eyes and tried to go back to sleep one last time, but sleep had fled from me. I sighed as I realized that another night had been lost to the clutches of sleeplessness.

I got up and paced around the room quietly. I walked over to the desk that sat in front of the window, which seemed to differ very little from Pokémon center to Pokémon center. I leaned against it and saw a sliver of the moon. The pale light glittered barely past the street lights of the small town. I realized that I was doing something Marik would have done. A small wave of anger washed over me and I balled my hands into fists. I marched myself back to bed and laid there until dawn had broke.

"Guys, we need to get up now." Katlyn whispered hurriedly. She already had Caleb in her arms, but the little guy was still asleep.

I looked at my phone then looked out the window. It was ten minutes after dawn should have broken. However the sky was still as black as night. I tried to comprehend how this could be, but my tired mind would not allow the answers to come to me.

"Katlyn, what's wrong?" I asked sleepily. By now, Emily, Devin, and Austin was up and were wondering why Katlyn was keeping them up as well.

"The fact that there is a tornado warning in effect for two hours. We need to get underground as fast as we can!" she exclaimed. The three siblings' eyes widened and Austin instantly began grabbing his belongings. He was quickly followed by Devin and Emily.

"There won't be a tornado. They are so rare that it's not even funny!" I replied.

"Oh yeah? Then how do explain that huge funnel cloud!" Katlyn exclaimed as she pointed out the window.

At first I couldn't see anything, but the lightning soon fixed that. Sure enough a large rotating cloud was beginning to form. It snaked its way down to the ground and began to devour anything and everything in its path. The electricity began to flicker then failed.

"Come on! We have to get to shelter!" Katlyn yelled.

We burst out of the room and into a glowing red hallway. Sounds of panic, filled the air as people haphazardly tried to get to safety. We headed to the stairwell where a small crowd of people tried to push their way through the small door. Caleb was wide awake now. He looked around our small group with alarm. His face contorted as he began to say some jargon that no one of could understand. Then the roof began to creak. A few seconds later a large tree smashed its way through the far side of the hallway that we had just come from. We had just about made it to the stairwell when a man shoved past us, causing me fly into a nearby wall. Through his mad dash, he made it to the stairwell. He began to close the steel door. We yelled for him to wait and the man froze. He saw us coming but then saw the entire far end of the Pokémon center get ripped away in the twister. He began to shut the door again.

"Wait! We have a baby! Please wait!" Katlyn shouted. That got the man's attention. He began to wave for us to hurry. Emily and Devin made it first. They turned around and began to wave for us to hurry as well. Austin made it next and I followed behind him. A large boom caught my attention. I turned around and saw a horrifying sight. Glass was strewn everywhere. Katlyn was on the ground. One arm holding onto Caleb and the other clutching at a shard of glass sticking jaggedly out of her left leg. Her cries of pain and the sudden crashing of the glass made Caleb also cry out. I dashed for her as fast as I could. The hallway was being devoured rapidly by the twister. I tried to pick Katlyn up off the ground, but she yelled for me to stop.

"Take Caleb and get out of here!" she cried.

"I can't leave you!" I protested. Caleb began to shake his head and began to jabber even hard he pulled for her to get back up, but she didn't even twitch a muscle.

"Just go. As long as he is safe, I'll be fine." she replied serenely.

Another loud roar from the twisting demon snapped me from the conversation. I looked from Katlyn to Caleb. A tear began to form as I snatched Caleb from the floor. He began to cry out for his sister. He wiggled and squirmed wanting to be free from my grip. We made it to the stairwell door. The man had already gone into the basement Emily and Devin were gone as well. Austin was fighting the suction that was being created by the twister. The door that he held open was pushing against him with newly empowered strength. Caleb cried out loudly for his sister. We made it through the door and Austin let it close. Just before the door slammed shut, Caleb cried out one last time.

"Wuv you Kattin." he said mournfully. We quickly ducked down the stairwell into the basement. I was beginning to cry and Austin was doing the same. Emily and Devin quickly found us.

"Where is Katlyn?" Devin asked as he looked at our group.

"She gave me Caleb then made me leave her. Up there." I cried. Devin stepped back and Emily covered her mouth.

"Is… is she dead?" she asked. I shrugged sullenly. A roar from the above ground shook the walls. Whispered murmurs could be heard from every part of the small basement. Once the roar died down, someone shouted that the news said that the tornado had lifted and it was safe to leave. We began back up the stairs. The door that had been so much of a problem was completely gone as was the rest of the Pokémon center. From the looks of it half of Lavender Town had disappeared in an instant.

"It took everything. Where did it even come from?" I muttered as I shifted a still crying Caleb into a better position.

"The news is saying that it was the same storm system that hit Saffron. It swung East and was directly on top of us." Austin said sadly. I just nodded and wondered how Katlyn's parents would take the news.

 **Caleb's POV**

Katlyn was gone. She disappeared. Austin and Sam searched around for her, but there was no trace. I couldn't stop crying for her. Everyone else seemed to be so calm and collected that it made me wish that they were the ones taken by the freak storm. I knew that I shouldn't have been thinking things like that, but I couldn't help myself. Why did she have to die? There was no possible way for her to survive the winds, much less the debris that was spinning around. The calm and collection everyone else, shattered when Austin handed Sam a cracked Pokéball. Sam turned it around and found one of the lightning bolt seals that Katlyn had placed onto the capsule. He broke down and began to cry. Emily took me from his arms despite my protest and crying. He tried to open the capsule but it was jammed shut.

"Sam, let's go to the hospital. Maybe she is there." Austin said softly. Sam nodded a few times and stood up. He wiped away the tears and stood as tall as he could

"They won't take Caleb from us because they will assume that his parent's are missing at least." Devin muttered.

I didn't care what happened to me at the moment. I wanted to die. I wanted to be locked away. I couldn't help her. If she didn't have to hold on to me then she wouldn't had to die. I killed her. It was me.

The hospital did fare much better than most of the other buildings in the area. Despite this, there was some major damage. There was a large tree smashed through the glass front and the awning over the main entrance had collapsed with several cars underneath. Glass windows were shattered and the hospital's sign had been twisted into a barely recognizable heap of scrap metal and fiber glass. Still, the hospital was being used. People streamed in and out the other entrances that dotted the complex.

We didn't realize the horror until we went inside. People were lying everywhere. On the chairs, in beds, on couches, and even on the ground. Every nurse and doctor rushed around wildly until an older nurse stopped and looked at us.

"Where are your parents?" she asked impatiently.

'Someplace you aren't.' I thought to myself darkly.

"I don't know? They told us to run for shelter and gave us our baby brother." Sam said motioning towards me.

The woman's expression softened a bit and she began give me a quick inspection. "I'm so sorry. Let me get the pediatrician and have him make sure you are all ok." the nurse hurried off in search of the doctor.

We waited for several hours for the nurse to return with the pediatrician. She was grumbling about how that young doctor was never around when there was an emergency. The young doctor was rubbing his head nervously.

"I am a pediatrician. I didn't have a lot of patients after the storm so I took a break. I just called my family to make sure they were ok." the doctor said.

"When you are in the middle of a crisis like this, then you are more than a pediatrician. You are now everybody's doctor. I shouldn't have to hunt you down because of a small phone break." the nurse replied hotly.

"Whoa, now. Don't get too upset. I am here now." the doctor replied quickly. He then turned to us and waved for us to follow him. He took us to a small examination room and began to access the damage. Because of my current situation, I was the first to be looked at. I was placed on the examination table for the examination. I had a few minor cuts from the glass but other than that, I was fine. Sam was next. Like me, he had a few cuts; nothing major. Austin, Devin, and Emily were next, but they didn't have any injuries whatsoever.

"For you two, I'm going to prescribe some antibiotics for those cuts. Where are you parents at so I can give them the prescription?" Sam shrugged and looked at the ground.

"We got separated during the storm. They told me and his sister to run for the basement of the Pokémon center. His sister fell and got a deep cut from some glass. She handed me Caleb and told me to run. I don't know what happened to her after that." Sam explained heavyhearted. The doctor sighed in empathy.

"This part of town got hit the hardest. There were nearly three blocks that have been obliterated. We are bringing in more victims every minute. Let's head to the pediatric ward. We may have found your sister. The Pokémon center was the first place we searched since it was so close. We pulled at least twenty kids out of the rubble. Most were trainers. How old was she?" the doctor asked.

I looked at with forlorn hope. "She was almost eight." I replied.

"Well that knocks out fifteen patients. Let's go have a look. However, I would suggest that only you go. Everyone else, including the baby needs to stay here." I protested with an angry squeal. This was my sister we were looking for and I wanted to see her if she is alright if she is here. Sam didn't seem to understand my squeal or he didn't care. He handed me off to Emily; he and the doctor left the room.

 **Sam's POV**

The amount of victims was horrifying. There were people that had been crushed by debris while others had deep clotting scars from rouge signs and other flying objects. The doctor led me through the crowds of people into a separate wing of the hospital. These were the people that survived the destruction of the Pokémon center. Their conditions were not better. We went past room after room of injured people until we came across a very large room that contained, at the very least, fifty people in it.

"We took as many of the children out of here as we could, however there are still a few in here that haven't been moved yet." the doctor said. He took me past some more people to a group of beds. These beds had the trainers and other children pulled from the wreckage of the center. I began to look at each one; each one didn't even look similar to Katlyn.

"None of them is Katlyn. Are there anymore kids that haven't been identified?" I asked hopefully.

"Yeah, I'll show you them. However, these kids are not from the Pokémon center ruins. Most of these kids were found randomly." the doctor replied as we walked through a separate set of doors.

We climbed up a flight of stairs to the second story. We entered into another room that was filled with children of all ages. All the children were hurt during the storm and many of them were crying; making the room almost deafening. I sighed as I began to inspect the room. Every second I spent in there I got more and more discouraged. Katlyn was nowhere to be seen. The only thing I knew was that she had most likely died in that storm, and Caleb is alone with no family around.

"Katlyn isn't here. Can we go back to the others?" I asked sadly. The doctor nodded then led me back to the examination room.

 **Caleb's POV**

Sam came back and shook his head quietly. Devin, Austin, and Emily only looked to the ground. I didn't know if it was actually me or the extra sensitive emotions of my body, but I began to wail loudly. I wanted Katlyn to be alright. I didn't want to be alone after all that had happened. I wanted Katlyn to be with me so I could make up all of the times that I messed up. The doctor looked at me curiously but said nothing.

"I am afraid that I will have to ask y'all leave this room. We have more patients that need to be examined and since you are all fine, you really don't need to be in here. I do want y'all to stay close. That way if anything happens I won't be to far away. In fact, you can stay at my place. My wife would be more than happy to take care of you until we locate your parents. My name is Dave. My wife's name is Rebecca. I'll call her up and let her know to pick y'all up."

"Thanks, but we can manage. We will just have to stay here until we find his parent. Our aunt and uncle." Austin said.

"I'll tell you what, the hospital is going to be busy for the next week or so. The place is overflowing as it is. I will try to find your parents if they come. What are your names?" Dave asked.

"This is Caleb Ward, I'm Sam, and they are Devin, Austin, and Emily. We were spending the week with his parents. When the tornado hit, we got separated from his parents. We don't know what happened to them after that." I lied.

"Alright, I'll keep an eye out for them. In the meantime, you all can stay at my house. Deal?" I sighed as the doctor held out his hand. I reluctantly took it. "Good, now give me a moment and I'll call my wife." I nodded and we waited.

 **Zan's POV**

I woke up with something laying on top of me. I rolled over and found MK sleeping. I slid out from underneath him gently tapped him. He woke up with a start and looked around widely.

" _Don't die on me kid."_ I smirked.

"Zan! Where are we? What happened to the others? _"_ MK shouted.

" _How would I know? I just woke up here! What is the last thing you remember?"_ I asked.

MK stopped and thought for a second. _"_ Let's see, there was this weird swirly cloud. Katlyn yelled for us to run. I looked back and you were still asleep! You didn't know that there was danger! I tried to use Psychic to carry you. I got you into the hallway, but I was strong enough to get you much farther than that. I went to get help and found Katlyn lying on the ground. She yelled for me to follow the others, but I didn't want to leave you. I decided to teleport you both, but I felt Katlyn's presence disappear completely. Then I woke up here. I don't know if Katlyn made it or not though. Katlyn! We have to find her Zan! _"_ MK shouted.

" _And where would you like us to start? We don't even know where we are."_ I retorted.

"We are in a forest. _"_ MK chimed.

" _Geez, thanks for the analysis Captain Obvious._

 _I can tell that we are in a forest. What forest? Are we near Lavender Town? Are we in a different region? Are we even in the same universe?"_ I grumbled.

"I _…_ I don't know I just wanted to make sure everyone was safe. _"_ MK muttered back.

" _Kid, look, You don't need to be a hero. If I was still asleep in that room, then maybe it was my time to go. I am old compared to you. My life has been hard as you can see. You are not supposed to rescue broken Pokémon like me. Katlyn, on the other paw, is worth saving. She is young and has a long, even longer now, life ahead of her. Assuming she is still alive somewhere. My point is that you don't save something that is broken beyond repair. You save the things that don't need to be fixed."_ I lectured.

"But you aren't broken. You are still alive and everyone said that you are the strongest Pokémon anyone has ever met. _"_

" _Kid, I was the one that allowed Katlyn to be turned back into a kid. I wasn't strong enough to protect her then; I am not strong enough to protect her now."_ I said quietly.

"I don't understand. How did you allow that? _"_ MK asked out of puzzlement.

" _Long story short, I gave the Banette the energy to pull off its curse and was not cunning enough to stop it."_ I said regretfully. MK wasn't buying it. He began to float around me in circles. He stopped in front of me and looked me dead in the eye.

"How do you know that it wasn't supposed to happen? My mom always told me that nothing is an accident. She said that things happen for a reason and that they happen so we can learn. _"_ MK replied.

" _Kid, let's just agree to disagree."_ I replied. _"Now, where are we and where do we need to go?"_

"We need to go north, the only problem is that I don't know how far north we have to go. _"_

" _How do you not know how far we need to go? In fact, why don't we just teleport back?"_ I asked.

"I am not very good at teleporting yet, so… _"_ MK trailed off.

" _So you don't know how far you went, and you are afraid of teleporting past Lavender Town."_ I finished. MK nodded his head out of embarrassment. _"That's just great. Well, let's get moving."_ I grumbled.

"Wait! We still need to make sure Katlyn isn't around her! I don't sense her but could mean two things… _"_

" _She either teleported with and was thrown in a different direction than we were,_ _you accidentally didn't teleport her,_ _or she di_ _e_ _d during the teleport, right?"_ I interrupted. MK nodded nervously.

"I thought she teleported with us, but I'm not sure. Everything was crazy. _"_ MK said dolefully.

" _Cheer up kid. I'm sure she is fine. I haven't smelled her scent the entire time we've been here. So she isn't any where around here."_ I comforted.

 **Caleb's POV**

Again we took the charity of others and again I wish we didn't need to. However, since the Pokémon center was gone, we had no choice. I missed Katlyn terribly. As we waited in the hospital lobby to meet Dave's wife, we took tally of everyone that was missing. MK, Zan, Basilisk, Jack, Lawrence, and Katlyn. Since we couldn't open up the Pokéball that we found, we couldn't find out who was inside. Sam was again holding me. I didn't care at the moment because of all that had happened. I didn't care about my situation. All I wanted was my sister and the rest of our friends back. I whimpered softly as a new problem arose. I was getting hungry. I looked up at Sam and tapped him. He looked down at me and saw my watering eyes. It wasn't like I could control my reflexes, so I wasn't all that embarrassed. I pat my stomach and whimpered some more. Sam understood what I wanted and got up.

"Guys, I'm going to go find him something to eat. Y'all stay here and wait. I'll bring everyone something to eat when I get back." Sam said. Austin nodded and we went off to find some food.

The cafeteria was packed with people. Most of them were family of the injured. Sam took me up to a counter and asked the lunch lady if they had any food for me. I realized what it would turn out to be and shuddered slightly. The lunch lady was about to give Sam the "food" when something in the back of the room crashed to the ground. Sam turned to see what was happening, and we saw a small group of people running through the Cafeteria. I wondered what was going on until a reddish orange blur flew out of the from underneath the tables.

"Get that stupid thing!" a hospital security guard yelled as he gave chase. Three more guards followed. They jumped, dived, and slid on the floor as the tried to stop the blur. Then the blur dashed towards us and stopped behind us. I looked down and pointed to the reddish orange fox.

"San." I said after much effort. I mentally chided myself for what I said, but knew that it was probably the best I could do. Sam looked down in shock.

"Lawrence!" he said excitedly. Lawrence nodded up and down vigorously. The guards stopped in front of us and eyed me and Sam.

"Is this your Pokémon?" the lead guard asked suspiciously.

"No, it is his sister's Pokémon. She went missing after the tornado." Sam muttered. The serious expression on the man's face softened a little.

"I'm sorry to hear that, kid. Just be sure you keep that Pokémon away from the patients. I hope your friend turns up." the guard said. After that, the four men slowly walked away.

"Lawent. Kattin." I struggled to say. Lawrence looked up at Sam for a translation.

"He is asking you about his sister. Have you seen her? She disappeared after the storm. We haven't seen her since." Sam asked.

"I'm sorry, Caleb. Haven't seen her. Not since this morning. _"_ Lawrence replied as he shook his had sadly for Sam. Sam sighed in defeat.

"Let's get you fed Caleb. Hopefully your parent's get here soon." Sam said as he turned around and accepted the bottle that the lunch lady had prepared. I whimpered quietly to myself as the idea that Katlyn may be gone forever began to settle in my mind.

* * *

I hope that y'all enjoyed this chapter. I know that it is going to cause a little bit of outrage. Katlyn is one of the main characters so you can't kill her off right? Well Harrison Ford didn't think so when he convinced Disney to kill off Han Solo. I still hate that. Anyways, you'll have to wait to find out what is going to happen. I picked the tornado because I had a face-to-face encounter with one. I was seven at the time. It happened so fast, one minute I was playing on one of the original Leap Pads and the next thing I know I see a large tree flying through the air. Luckily, nobody was hurt and the damage to our house was minimal, but the neighbor's house was a different story. Somehow, the tornado lifted over our house and landed directly on the neighbor's. I will never forget that day. It shook my trust in the news service and I will never again be unprepared for something like that again. Anyways, this is shieldliger001 signing off.


	40. Chapter 40

Hey guys! So, I have been getting a lot of messages asking me to continue this story. I just want to reassure everyone that I have no intentions of quitting this story. I just have a lot of things going on. Next week I have the AP U.S History test next week as well as the U.S. History STAAR test. Once those are out of the way, I should be able to update more regularly. Anyways, onto the reviews.

Monpoke: As always, it is good to hear from you. Sometimes, few words are all one needs.

Caitou zzzzzz: The one thing that I have noticed throughout my life is that if something that can't be helped happens someone always wants to take the blame for not stopping it. As for the parents, I would agree with you. It would not be worth loosing Caleb.

Philip Harbindinger: Thanks for the critiques. I think I was up late when proofreading. Plus, I absolutely hate proofreading. As for the tornado, it may have seemed unrealistically, but it really isn't. One misconception is that a tornado can blow out windows like a sonic boom. This will not happen since a sonic boom happens when you exceed the speed of sound which is 761 mph. The fastest tornado has been clocked only at about 318 mph. The only thing that will blowout a window is debris or the tornado if it is directly on top of said window. One last thing, tornadoes are extremely powerfully. They can rip a building right out of the ground. One of the most famous tornadoes is known as the May 3rd tornado. It was classified as an F-5 tornado. It literally ripped apart the town of Moore Oklahoma.

* * *

 **Some times you lose more than you win. It's about handling losses and trying to turn them into positives. You get out into the big leagues and there's a period of adjustment to be made. You've got to handle it.**

 **Lindsay Davenport**

* * *

 **Chapter 40**

 **Caleb's POV**

Three days had passed since the storm. Dave's wife, who was in her mid-twenties, had been taking care of us just as her husband had asked her. She was kind and tried to make us comfortable in any way she could. She gave us all hot meals, although mine was still artificial milk, and she made sure all of our clothes were clean. She seemed to enjoy having people around. I guess it gets lonely when you are married to a person that works in a hospital. She especially took a liking to me. I had a fairly good idea why, but I still don't understand why people gush over babies. The bad thing was that she had a one-year-old daughter, that I was constantly forced to be around. Because of Rebecca's constant attention, I barely got to see anyone else. I began to think that they all had abandon me here, except for the small glimpses of Devin or Sam that I managed to capture, and the times we ate dinner or breakfast. Every time I saw them, I was relieved, but then was also disappointed. Every time I saw them at breakfast or dinner, I was reminded that my parents had not shown up yet. I began to worry about them as well. They would take the news about me pretty hard, but nowhere near as hard as the news of Katlyn's disappearance. I only hoped that they would still be alright afterwards.

It was the middle of the afternoon and I was forced into a play pen with Rebecca's daughter. I learned quickly that babies didn't speak some baby language like some people tried to say. I was bored out of my mind. Rebecca sat maybe three feet away from me, watching. I wanted to say something, anything, but there was nothing I could say to break said silence. I could have tried crying in order to get out, but I wasn't going to stoop that low.

"How's he doing?" Sam asked as he walked into the room.

"He is doing just fine. I must say, he is definitely a peculiar child. He doesn't really fuss and doesn't seem interested with anything aside from trying to stay away from others.

'Yeah, I don't want you near me. You are all freaking crazy. Heck I think I'm crazy.' I thought as Rebecca and Sam looked at me fun.

"He is even more peculiar than you know." Sam muttered to himself

"What was that?" Rebecca asked curiously.

"Oh, nothing. I was just thinking out loud." Sam replied. Sam and Rebecca remained quiet for several minutes.

'You two don't have to wait on me. I don't really have anything I want to talk about." I laughed silently to myself. My dumb joke quickly lost its humor. I was upset because of Katlyn's disappearance. Also, with MK gone, I couldn't even talk to anyone. I felt like a mute. I could listen to everything in the world, but I could not respond in any form or manor. Life was really starting to suck.

"My husband called from work today." Rebecca said idly.

"What did he say? Did he find Katlyn? Or did My Aunt and Uncle show up?" Sam asked excitedly.

"He said that they pulled a girl out of the wreckage of the Pokémon center today. He said that the girl is around eight and he wanted you to see if it is your cousin." Rebecca replied. I already told him that we would be there in fifteen minutes."

"Really! Let me get Caleb and we can go!" Sam shouted. Before I knew what was happening, I was yanked up into the air rather harshly. I whimpered slightly and Sam quickly apologized.

"Sam, don't get your hopes up. Dave said that they had been bringing in families from all over the city." Rebecca warned. I didn't keep my hopes too high. I knew that the chances of it being Katlyn were extremely thin. However, I still wanted to go see if it was her. Sam looked at me for a second then back to Rebecca.

"Do you happen to have anything different for him to wear. Aside from the clothes he is wearing, he doesn't have anymore." My eyes widened and they darted from Sam to the baby in the pen.

"I do believe that we have some clothes somewhere he can wear. Let's go have a look." Rebecca replied thoughtfully.

'Sam! What are you thinking? She has a daughter! Not a son!' I yelled frantically in my head. 'MK! I am going to kill you if you aren't dead already!'

Sam and I followed Rebecca to a small guestroom. Rebecca threw open the closet door and began digging through the clutter.

"Aha, I think this will work." she said as she closed the closet door. I couldn't see what it was but I knew that it would be very colorful. Sam shifted me around and I got a clear look of the clothes. To my surprise, they weren't girly in the least. It was one of those combo sets that you sometimes see at the store. The shirt was navy blue and had a design of a ship's anchor on it. The shorts were your average khaki shorts. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"My daughter is a twin. My parents bought a lot of these clothes before my children were born. My son died shortly after birth, and these clothes were put here for storage." Rebecca said softly. A tear began to form, but Rebecca quickly brushed it away.

"I'll let you take care of him. I'll be waiting by the car when you are ready to go." Rebecca turned and exited the room.

"Nervous much?" Sam asked me with a hint of a smile. "You were trembling like a building during an earthquake."

'I would like to see how you would react if you were in my shoes.' I snorted in my thoughts.

The trip to the hospital took nearly twenty minutes. Rebecca had to bring her baby, so she got the single car seat. Sam held me, which I considered to be the lesser of two evils. Besides, it allowed me to get a look at my surroundings. The section of town we were driving through was mostly untouched. The damage was strictly superficial. A few broken windows and a missing shingle or two. As we got closer to the hospital, the damage got worse. Houses were completely demolished and some house had been ripped from their foundation and laid in the middle of some of the streets. When we did make it to the hospital. The area was desolate in the terms of standing structures. The Pokémon center and most of the surrounding buildings were completely gone. All that was left were the foundations. I whimpered softly as I thought of the other victims, not counting my sister.

"They say that the tornado was an F-5. They are debating whether or not to reclassify it as an F-6. If they did that, it would be the first of its kind." Sam muttered to me. I looked at the destruction and whimpered some more. Rebecca pulled into the parking lot and we got out of the car. We all walked into the hospital where Dave met us in the lobby.

"She is this way. Nobody has been able to identify her yet so I thought maybe you could." Dave explained as he guided us through the crowds of people. Dave led us to a private room where the girl lay on a hospital bed. The girl had a faint resemblance of Katlyn, but not enough to be her. I sighed sadly. Throughout my journey, I learned only one thing; never hope too much.

"Is this her Sam?" Dave asked. Sam shook his head. "Alright then. I guess I'll call you Rebecca if I find anyone else her age."

"Wait. I think I have a picture of her on my phone." Sam mumbled as he pulled out his cell. "I can't believe that I didn't think of this earlier."

"Don't beat yourself up over it. I didn't think of it either." Dave said. "Can you send me that picture?" Sam nodded and sent the picture to Dave. Dave nodded then opened the door. "If you four will excuse me, I have a few patients I need to attend to."

"I'm sorry that it wasn't her." Rebecca said softly as we began to leave.

"It's alright. Ever since we started to travel, it has been one disaster after another. We learned that we shouldn't expect things to happen anymore." Sam muttered

'Sam, you are going to blow our cover.' I thought.

"Traveling? I thought you were here with your Aunt and Uncle."

"Me and Katlyn met up with them here. The tornado hit and we got separate. It is kinda hard to explain." Sam replied quickly. Rebecca glanced at us and for a second I thought she was going to call Sam's bluff. However she never got the chance.

" _Sam!"_ a voiced called out to us mentally. I recognized the voice instantly and knew that we were saved. Sam turned around and stared in disbelief. Maggie bounded towards us at lightning speed. She stopped just before I thought she was going to hit us. She looked at me and Sam. _"Is that Caleb?"_

"Yeah, this is him." Sam replied quietly. Maggie nodded with understanding.

" _I see why his parents were so distressed when they got Katlyn's call. Where is Katlyn? She was not injured in the storm was she?"_ Maggie asked.

"We don't know. She disappeared during the storm. We don't even know if she is even alive anymore." Sam said regretfully.

" _I see. Well, Caleb's parents are still searching the hospital. We just arrived here this morning because many of the roads where closed due to flooding. When they saw the destruction, they immediately came here."_ Maggie explained. _"Let's go find them and let them know that you two are alright. I… I will tell them about Katlyn."_

"That probably would be best. I don't think I can stand to give anyone bad news at the moment." Sam said.

I was getting bored with listening to the conversation. I hated not being able to talk, so I tried something a little different. I tried to think my thoughts and tried to direct them at Maggie in a way similar to what Zan did. Try as I might, I could not get her to notice me. I sighed in defeat. Sam looked back at Rebecca who was still trying to figure out what was going on.

"Rebecca, this is Maggie. She is the Pokémon of Caleb's mother. She just said that Caleb's parents are searching the hospital as we speak." Sam quickly. Rebecca bowed slightly.

"Hello, I am pleased to make your acquaintance." She said. Maggie returned the bow then introduced herself.

" _Sam, your… Aunt and Uncle are looking all over the place for you and Caleb. I think we should find them and let them know that you two are alright."_ Maggie suggested. Sam agreed; I did not. I didn't want them to see me like this. I knew that it was inevitable, but that fact didn't help matters one bit. I squirmed and began to fuss a little bit.

"Caleb Arthur Ward! You cut that out this instant. I know that you can understand me, so don't make me do something that you and I will regret. _"_ Maggie growled at me.

 _'So you can hear me!'_ I thought excitedly.

" _Yes, but I didn't want to say anything until after we could meet with your parents. That way we could have a little privacy."_ Maggie replied. _"Try not to reach out to me like that again. Not until we get somewhere where there aren't any people."_

 _'Alright. I'll try not to. It is just so hard. I can't do anything anymore. I mean look at me!'_ I began to cry a little. Maggie's expression hardened.

" _Quit your sniveling. We will discuss this later."_ Maggie then smiled slightly. _"By the way, you are extremely cute right now."_

I began to feel heat flood my face. I tried to turn my head in order to hide my blushing. Sam, who only heard growls and yips, looked at me oddly.

" _Come, Samuel. We must get him to his parent's."_ Maggie said as she turned around. Sam looked at Rebecca and she smiled back.

"Do you want to meet my Aunt and Uncle?" Sam asked.

"Of course I would. Lead the way." Rebecca replied almost too cheerfully. I waved for her to follow and we chased after Maggie.

 **MK's POV**

We walked and walked for what seemed like for ever. I did not have the mental strength to continue floating so I had to travel on foot. I felt exposed and really wanted my mom to just appear and make this dream go away. I knew that it wouldn't just disappear, but I hoped for it nonetheless. Zan said little. He kept checking for any sign of Katlyn, but he had no success. We were getting tired and hungry. I didn't know how to hunt or what kind of berries I needed to eat. I kept pestering Zan with questions relating to food. After about ten minutes, we stopped and he looked at me dead in the eye.

" _You are telling me that your mom has not taught you how to fend for yourself?"_ Zan asked incredulously.

"Mom said that she wanted me to learn how to float and fight before teaching me how to hunt and scavenge. _"_ I explained.

" _I guess that make a little sense. You can't hunt or scavenge if you can't move well."_ Zan replied thoughtfully. _"Well I guess it is your lucky day. I am going to teach you the basics."_

I smiled to the larger Pokémon, but all he did was snort. He walked a few steps towards a large bush, then began rummaging through it. He pulled out three berries and placed them on the ground.

"What are those? _"_ I asked as I studied them.

" _These are your first lesson. What can you tell me about these berries?"_ Zan asked.

"Well, one is green, one is yellow, and one is white. _"_ I replied.

" _Right, now there is one thing all three of these berries have in common. All three are poisonous. They can cause a lot of damage to humans and most Pokémon. With your lineage, I am not sure if you would be affected by them or not. Just to be safe, I don't want you to ever try berries of these three colors. Got it?"_ I nodded and Zan continued. _"What can you tell me about this berry?"_

"It is an Oran berry? _"_ I yipped as he dropped another berry on the ground in front of me.

" _That's right. Its taste is somewhat balanced, and it has enough calories to give you a small boost of energy._

"What's a calorie? _"_ I asked innocently.

" _It is an energy unit. It is used to tell how much energy you will receive after you eat food. It is really hard for me to explain."_ Zan tried to say. _"Either way, the Oran berry is one of the most common berries around and it will keep you going."_

"Is that all we can eat today? _"_ I asked the Jolteon.

" _There are plenty of other berries in these woods. For now I want to explain to you where to find these and which berries to avoid. Come on. We still need to keep moving."_

 **Caleb's POV**

My parents were on the far side of the hospital. They seemed worn down and ragged. They didn't seem to recognize me, but I knew that would change. Especially since Katlyn had already told Dad four days prior.

They saw Sam first. My parents stood up slowly a walked over to us. I whimpered slightly as heat flooded my checks. I knew what was coming next and I really didn't want to think about it.

"Sam, I am so glad you are ok!" my Mom said as she pulled Sam into an awkward hug.

Sam fidgeted a little, but still kept a tight grip on me. Mom's hug was beginning to smother me and I yelped a little. Mom pulled away and looked at me.

"Where did this little guy come from, Sam?" Mom asked curiously. I looked up her with disbelief, while Sam's mouth nearly hit the floor.

"I'm sorry. This is my fault. Hun, when Katlyn called, I told you that she didn't tell me what happened; that she only said that it was an emergency. Well, this is the emergency. That is our little boy." Dad confessed.

"T-that… that is Caleb?" Mom questioned, incredulity. Sam nodded silently. Mom gasped then nearly passed. She began to fall, but Dad caught her. She was breathing hard and looked very pale. Dad soothed her as best he could, but his quiet murmurings weren't very effective. After a few minutes, Mom calmed down enough in order for Sam to introduce Rebecca. They played Mom's panic attack off as a her form of relief. I don't think Rebecca bought it, but it was a good try. Mom kept staring at me as Sam explained what had happened three days prior. Mom broke down crying when she heard that Katlyn had gone missing during the tornado. Dad, trying to be strong, wrapped his arms around her. She buried her head into his chest. Sam allowed her to mourn.

I felt horrible. I wanted to tell Mom that everything would be fine. I wanted her to know that we would get through this, but I couldn't. Not only because of my physical limitations, but also because I was wavering in my belief that this would all end. I thought back the day of the tornado. I thought about how I felt it was my fault that Katlyn was gone. I knew that wasn't the case. I felt helpless. Therefore I took the blame. With Katlyn gone, no one would want to go after the Rockets. I wasn't even sure if that would even be a possibility with Katlyn here.

I was yanked out of my thoughts by the sound of Mom's voice. She was trying to sound strong, but there was obvious vulnerability.

"Sam, could you let me see my… my baby boy?" she stuttered mournfully. Sam relaxed a little and began to hand me to my Mom. I burned with embarrassment. I was supposed to be taller then her and yet she could hold me like a bean bag. "Don't worry Caleb, I won't let anything happen to you. Not anymore." she vowed.

It was at this moment that I knew that Katlyn had to come back. She was the key to my being back to semi-normal. The words that came out of her mouth supposed to be reassuring; instead, they spelled my doom.

 **Zan's POV**

MK found more Oran berries than he knew what to do with. I was fairly pleased by his accomplishment; mostly because it saved me the hassle of finding the berries myself. We both eat our share and I wrapped up the remaining berries in a rather large leaf.

We continued to head north and we found that we were closer to civilization then we originally thought. Within an hour of our lunch break, we found a main road that would lead us to Lavender Town. I looked at the road suspiciously. I checked the road for any signs of trainers and was satisfied to find none. However, something still felt off. I couldn't tell what it was, but it scared me.

" _MK, I want you to transform into something inconspicuous, like a Caterpie or Rattata. If there are any trainers nearby, they won't want to catch something that common."_ I whispered. MK nodded, then began to glow. The glow faded and MK had taken on the form of a Rattata. I scanned the road for several minutes before pushing toward the asphalt. I continued cautiously, but no threats became apparent. I sighed a little and took a few steps forward.

"Hello Jolteon. Remember me? _"_ I jumped back in an instant. MK scampered towards me and bumped into me. The voice sent an evil chill through my spin. I recognized the cackling way the voice spoke, but could not place the voice with a face.

Suddenly, the air chilled and the sky darkened. The darkness was not natural. It came from a dark and powerful force. Something I could not even dream of fighting.

I listened for any sign of presence. A chill shot through me when I noticed that there was no sound at all. A puddle several feet away, began to flow. The darkness began to pour from every inch of the darkened sky. A figure made of the shadows formed. Then the shadows dispersed back into the flowing darkness which surrounded us. It was the Banette from long ago.

"It is nice to see that my entrance still places fear into the hearts of the brave." the creature cackled. I looked shamefully at the way I was shaking. My entire body had become the epicenter of fear, which irradiated off me in waves.

" _What do you want specter?"_ I asked as soon as I mustered up the courage.

"Oh, I was just think that I have something you may want. _"_ The Banette made a snapping motion and another pool of shadows formed. They also dispersed.

 **Sam's POV**

Rebecca went back to her house in order to let the others know what was going on. That gave me, Caleb, and his parents sometime to talk. The coming conversation was not going to be very good. The outcome would determine what would happen to Caleb.

"Sam, tell us what happened, don't leave anything out." Mr. Ward ordered softly. I sighed and stared deeply into Caleb's eyes. He nodded ever so slightly that most people wouldn't have even seen the movement. I thought back, looking for a place to begin.

I started things off with the Pokémon Tower. I explained how we figured out there was a second tower, and about the booby traps that were scattered inside. I told them about finding Mew and how she began to change Caleb back. When I got to the part about Team Rocket, I froze. This would be the deciding factor about what would happen to Caleb. Without Katlyn, I could not convince Mr. Ward or Mrs. Ward that they needed to let us keep going. I sighed then continued the story. I told them about the guy from Celadon and I told them about the note we found in the hopes that it would help my case. By the looks on their faces, that was a huge no. After that, I told them about the storm and how Katlyn's leg was injured severely. After that, Mr. Ward held up his hand. He had heard enough.

"Sam, I want you to call your parents and go home. If Rocket is involved then it is too dangerous for you to be continuing." Mr. Ward strictly ordered. Hesitantly, he then added. "You should forget about being a trainer for the time being. You don't have a Pokémon to defend yourself."

"What about Caleb?" I mumbled as I looked at the floor.

"I don't want him to be put into anymore danger. He is defenseless. I would rather have him like he is now, than to have both him and Katlyn gone. I don't want any arguments about this. He is my son, and I want him to be safe." Mr. ward replied coldly. Maggie walked over to the tall man and sat beside him. She began to yip and growl. I had no clue what she was saying. Apparently, my dumbfounded expression told her as much

" _I was only telling him that Caleb wishes to speak. Caleb, you may go ahead."_ Maggie said.

" _Hey Guys."_ he started quietly. _"Dad you can't stop them! I don't want to be stuck like this! Please! Don't make me stay like this!"_

Mr. Ward was taken aback by Caleb's sudden outburst, but he recovered. "Absolutely not! We lost Katlyn because of you! If you hadn't of stopped because of the rain, this would never have happened! I don't want to lose you either!"

"Michael! How dare you tell him it was his fault! He didn't know anything would happen! If it were you, you would have done the same thing!" Mrs. Ward yelled. Mr. Ward came out of his daze and stared at Caleb.

"Caleb, I didn't..." Caleb just buried his head into his mother's neck. He was visibly shaking. Mr. Ward, left the room.

* * *

I hope y'all like the chapter. Things seem to be heating up for Caleb and the others. One more fact about tornadoes, a few years ago, Moore Oklahoma got hit by another F-5 tornado. The wind speeds were so intense that they actually considered calling it an F-6 tornado. If they had, it would have been the first on record. Anyways, if you have anything to say y'all know what to do. Also, be sure to smash that favorite/follow button. This is Shieldliger001, signing off.


	41. Chapter 41

Hey guys, shield here. It has been a while since I have updated, and for that I apologize. Things were busy because of finals, and there were a few other things that needed to be taken care of. The good news is that I am out of school! Anyways, yesterday was the one year anniversary of One Misadventure After Another! I can't believe that it has been an entire year since I began publishing this story! I would like to thank all of y'all for following the story and giving me the inspiration to continue writing. I would like a special thanks to go to Rayrudan, Monpoke, Philip Habindinger, and Caitou zzzzzz for all of their reviews and support for my stories. Rayrudan, Monpoke, and Philip have been following my stories since my very first one, Two Brothers. Well now, on to the reviews!

Monpoke: Devin, Austin, and Emily were around, they just weren't the main focus of the last chapter. Austin's involvement will be picking up in the next few chapters.

Philip Harbindinger: As always, I am glad to hear from you. That error you pointed out was just like you said, I wasn't thinking. I wasn't particularly happy with the last chapter. I guess I am ready to leave Lavender town behind, lol.

Insane Celebi: As you will later see, I didn't forget about Jack. Also, I am glad you are enjoying the story.

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 **The shock of any trauma, I think changes your life. It's more acute in the beginning and after a little time you settle back to what you were. However it leaves an indelible mark on your psyche.  
Alex Lifeson**

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 **Chapter 41**

 **Jack's POV**

I floated in the darkness for what seemed like eternity. I lost all sense of time and didn't know if I was alive or dead. As I floated, I felt something beckoning to me. Calling me closer. I didn't consciously follow the calling. I just seemed to drift closer to it. As I drifted something just clicked. I was suddenly aware again. I looked around my surroundings and for the first in forever wondered where I was. Then the calling got louder. It transformed into a voice calling to me. I willed myself to go closer to the voice. As I got closer the voice transformed into a bright, white light. It wrapped me in its warm glow and I couldn't get away. It pulled me deeper into the light until I was completely engulfed in said light. My thoughts and actions began to blur and I passed back into my unconscious state.

"Jack! Wake up! I need you! Please! Please, wake up!" the voice cried. I trembled violently as the voice tickled my mind. It sparked something in me that wanted to wake up I forced myself awake. My eyes slowly opened. I blinked a few times to banish away the last of the darkness. "Jack! Wake up! I'm scared! You have to wake up!"

"I'm awake. See? _"_ I mumbled as I tried to get to my feet.

" _Good, you both are awake."_ someone said grimly. _"I guess it is time to show you both what is going on."_

Light exploded from the darkness. It was blinding. It was so bright that it chased away every shadow. Then the light began to waver and falter until it flickered into a soft glow. I looked around the newly lit room. It was a mostly empty box. There were no doors or windows, just dull gray plaster walls. Katlyn was behind me and I gladly ran to her. She looked down at me in surprise, but then gave me a huge hug. It nearly squeezed the life out of me but I didn't mind. Not at the moment. There was another bright flash. This one was not nearly as intense, but I still had to shield my eyes. In the middle of the room, looking at me straight in the eyes, was the guardian of time itself.

"Celebi." Katlyn muttered under her breath. Celebi nodded solemnly.

" _Katlyn, I have been watching you and brother for sometime now."_ the guardian started off. _"You both have caused quite a disruption in the world."_

Katlyn began to protest but the legendary quickly cut her off. _"Despite all of the problems it has caused, I am not blaming you. You are only trying to do what you are supposed to do. Caleb is your brother and you feel that it is your responsibility to protect him. Believe it or not, that is why I am here. Mew is the one responsible for this disruption. She just dragged you and your brother into it. You need her to change your brother."_ Celebi let the words sink in for a minute before continuing. _"I ran the odds, anything you do will end in utter failure."_

Celebi waited several seconds to let the fact sink in. Katlyn looked pained by the truth. "Then why are you here?" Katlyn finally asked.

" _To tell you that there is a way for you to succeed. However, you can only do so with my help."_ Celebi explained.

Celebi floated to one of the walls and placed her hand on the gray plaster wall. _"Do you know what this place is?"_ she said as she pressed her hand flat against the wall.

"No, what is it? _"_ I asked the legendary.

" _It is a place that is on the outer fringes of time. You are in a room that is the border of this universe and the next. There are a great many things I can do in this room. One is giving you an option. That option is to continue on the way you have been, slowly chasing a phantom, or you can learn about the base where Mew was taken."_

"I'll do whatever it takes to help my family." Katlyn said steadfastly.

" _I figured you'd say that. Talk about cliches."_ Celebi giggled before she became serious again. _"In all seriousness, this is going to be a very rattling experience. It will change you. Are you sure you want to do this? I haven't explained what you will be doing."_

"Caleb is my brother. If the situation was reversed he would do it. Besides, I owe him." Katlyn replied.

Celebi nodded then turned my direction. _"Jack, I want you to accompany Katlyn. I picked you because of your familiarity with the place you will be going. Will you help Katlyn?"_

"She saved me and Zan a while back. I would gladly help her brother. _"_ I said with determination.

" _Good, now let me explain what we will do. Remember, there are many risks that you will have to keep in mind."_ Celebi replied.

 **Katlyn's POV**

" _The plan is fairly simple. I have someone that I have convinced to help us. He will cause you and a selected individual to switch bodies. He will do the same for Jack and the said individual's Pokémon. This is not some task that will take a few hours. It is something that could take weeks,_ _even months_ _for you to do. All you need to do is memorize the layout of the base,_ _and the codes for the doors_ _. The person we selected has enough clearance to have pretty much free access to the base. Are you sure that you want to do this?"_ Celebi explained. I didn't know what exactly to think.

"I… I don't know. This feels kind of wrong. Are you sure there isn't anything else we can do?" I asked nervously.

" _I'm afraid not. This was the only way that allowed for you to have a high success rate."_ Celebi replied remorsefully.

"Alright. Let's do this." I said resolutely. Celebi snapped her fingers and a very familiar shadow appeared. My heart started beating at a rapid pace. My breathing became erratic to the point that I was nearly hyperventilating. The evil spawn cackled in pure delight. Its evil, red eyes boring holes straight through my soul.

"Nice to see you again, kiddo. Are you having a good journey? _"_ the evil creature asked.

"Y-yes, my j-journey has b-been fine." I stuttered uncontrollably. My nervousness caused the Banette to grin even wider.

" _Katlyn, is everything alright?"_ Celebi asked.

I shook my head. "He is the one that ruined my life. Turned me back into a kid. I had nightmares about him for a month and every time I looked in the mirror I was reminded of how he snapped my life in half like a twig." I muttered in terror.

"Oh come now, I though I did you a favor. Not many get the chance to be young again. _"_ the Banette lied smoothly.

" _Do you want to continue on with plan?_ _We can stop if you need to._ _"_ Celebi asked out of concern.

"No, I can do this. My brother is the only reason I am here." I said bravely. I shocked myself with my speech. Had this been a few months earlier, I wouldn't have done any of this.

Celebi nodded and disappeared from the room. She reappeared mere seconds later. Behind here was a struggling Rocket. It was a young woman, about my original age. She kicked and struggled and cursed as Celebi lifted her into the air with a Psychic. Next she used Hypnosis to put the Rocket to sleep. This is the part where Banette comes in.

" _I am not good at this part of the process, however he knows how to do this better than anyone else I know"_ Celebi explained while motioning to my worst nightmare.

"Come here kiddo. Let's get this show on the road! _"_ the Banette said gleefully. His enthusiasm sent chills through my spine. I slowly obeyed. His hands began to glow with black aura that was surrounded by a dark red glow. He placed one hand on my head and the other on the sleeping grunt. I felt as though I had been placed in a shredder. The pain was immense. It got so bad that it I blacked.

 **Jack's POV**

Katlyn collapsed to the ground. She was still breathing, but it was haggard. I went up the Rocket grunt then looked to the Banette.

"D-did it work? _"_ I asked nervously.

"Just like a charm. _"_ the Banette smiled wicked. The chills I was receiving caused my fur to stand on end. _"_ Guess what kid, it's your turn! _"_ the ghost cackled as it grabbed a Pokéball from the grunt's belt. He enlarged it and released the waiting Pokémon.

It was a Raichu. The final form of my evolutionary line. The said Raichu looked extremely agitated. It saw me and Banette and began to growl.

"Calm yourself, Streak. _"_ Celebi instructed. The Raichu whirled around and stared at the time guardian.

"Mistress Celebi! I-it is good to see you again! W-what can I do for you?" the Raichu stammered.

"You might as well quit now, Streak. I gave you and your trainer a chance to change, but neither of you tried. I am afraid that punishment is in order. _"_ Celebi said coldly.

"Punishment? B-but, I tried! I swear! _"_ Streak exclaimed unconvincingly.

"No! You did not! You didn't even think that what I said was the truth! And now, prepare for your punishment! _"_ Celebi yelled as she hypnotized the Raichu into falling asleep.

"What was all that about? _"_ I asked out of confusion.

"I can't just ruin my reputation by doing something like this without a reason. At least not with a Pokémon. There are different rules for humans, and many don't really care what you do to them. _"_ Celebi shrugged.

"Now, let's get your trip going. _"_ Banette said with his evil smirk. The Banette placed his hand on my head and on the Raichu's head. The glow eclipsed me and I felt as though every atom of my being was being ripped apart. Just as soon as the pain started, it disappeared. I somehow managed to stay awake. The body I now inhabited did not seem to be under the effects of the Hypnosis anymore. I tried weakly to get to my feet but they collapsed out from underneath me.

"Careful, you aren't used to this yet. _"_ Celebi cautioned. I nodded slowly and laid down on the ground.

"Now that my work here is done, I really must be going. I have lives to destroy, people to hurt, and Pokémon to scare. _"_ the Banette said with a wicked smirk.

"Magus, you better not do anything to jeopardize this mission. If you do, I will see to it that you will regret it. _"_ Celebi threatened.

"And what power do you think you hold over me. My power has no limits, Time Guardian. _"_ the Banette spat.

"I have been around far longer than you have. I know what I can do to stop you. _"_

"The only thing you can do is stop me from being created. If you do that, you would damage your precious time line. Not to mention the fact that you need me. No, you have nothing to threaten me with. _"_ The Banette turned to leave, then looked back one last time. _"_ I won't do anything to hurt the mission. At the moment, Team Rocket having Mew is the worst thing that can happen. Let me know when you need me again. _"_ With that, the Banette vanished.

"I thought you said he was your friend. _"_ I muttered.

"Magus is more of an opportunist than a friend. He saw this a way to repay a debt he owed me. I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him. _"_ Celebi replied. _"_ Let's get you both ready for the mission. _"_

"What will happen to them? _"_ I asked motioning to our bodies.

"They are in a dream that, to them, will feel real. They are not going to leave this room. _"_ Celebi reassured. _"_ Come, there is much for you to do. _"_

 **Caleb's POV**

I couldn't even look at my father. The pain his words had brought to me was unbearable. I felt as though someone had ran me through with a white, hot blade. The words burned my very soul. Mom hid me away from my father. I couldn't even see his face, nor did I want to. I heard my father sigh, get up, and walk out of the room.

"Caleb, your Dad didn't mean what he said." Mom tried to comfort. I faced my mom and looked her straight in the eyes.

'If only I could believe that Mom.' I thought.

Sam told Mom and Maggie about where Lawrence was. We found Rebecca and she agreed to bring the rest of the kids to us. Of course, this puzzled Mom causing Sam to explain what else had happened during her absences. She was somewhat accepting of this news. I guess she had other things on her mind.

 **Sam's POV**

Austin, Devin, and Emily arrived about thirty minutes later. We all agreed that we should talk somewhere else aside from the hospital. The smell of the wounded and the constant shout of doctors and nurses was nerve wracking. We found a small park that had survived the storm mostly intact. We walked around for awhile without a single word. Finally, the moment we had been dreading came.

"Guys, Caleb's dad wants us to stop going after Mew." I said. The other three didn't seem all that surprised.

"We figured as much. I guess we should tell you that we are still going after her. It's not right that we just leave her at the mercy of something as cruel as Team Rocket." Austin replied. "However, I don't want Devin and Emily to be there. It would be too dangerous for them."

"And it isn't dangerous for you?" I asked skeptically.

"It would be better for me to go alone than it would for them to go with me." Austin replied.

"I can't stop you from doing anything. You are not my child, but think of what you are doing. Going into a Rocket base is just insane. Please, think about what you are doing. I want Caleb back to normal, but that isn't worth the risks you will be taking." Mrs. Ward spoke up.

"I realize that it will be dangerous, but it is also the only way for us to go home. If Mew isn't saved, then we won't ever see our family ever again." Austin replied.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I mean that me, Devin, and Emily are from a world without Pokémon. They are just a T.V. show, anime, games, and books. They aren't real. Our world is filled with animals that don't have special powers. That is where our family lives. That is where they think we died. We have to make it back." Austin replied vehemently.

"Well, you aren't doing it alone. I'll go with y'all." I said suddenly.

"You don't have a Pokémon. How would you be able to help?" Austin asked.

"I… I don't know; I'll figure it out. All I know is that you can't go at this alone."

"I know, but there aren't that many options." Austin sighed.

 **Zan's POV**

The Banette stared at us with a dark smile. Chills seemed to plague me to the point that I was getting used to the feeling. The Banette seemed to take his time releasing the shadow pool. Eventually the shadows did flee and a familiar face was left behind.

" _Katlyn."_ I muttered. A thought occurred to me which made me growl mentally. _"Why do you have her! What did you do!"_

The Banette cackled. _"_ I didn't do a single thing to her. She just had a rough year is all. _"_

Lightning sparked from my fur. My fear transformed into rage. _"What did you do! Answer me!"_

"All I did was make sure she returned to her body safely. Celebi was the one who convinced her to switch places with a Rocket. _"_ the ghost dismissed. _"_ Oh, before I forget. Katlyn will seem… well, a little different. After all, spend nearly a year pretending you are with the enemy will do that to you. See you around, Jolteon. Oh, and good job on your disguise little Mew. Just remember that Rattata aren't pink. _"_ the Banette smirked as he disappeared with his shadows.

I looked over at MK only to find that he was, indeed, a pink Rattata. _"Great job kid, you ruined your disguised."_ I muttered as I slowly approached Katlyn. She was extremely still. I was relieved that she was still breathing, although just barely. She seemed to be alright, but I couldn't be sure. After a few minutes of thought, I decided to try and find some help. _"MK, I want you to run ahead and try to find somebody that can help us. I don't know why she is out cold and I don't want to risk moving her."_

"Alright, I won't let you down! _"_ the little Mew replied as he dashed down the road. He disappeared into the distance a minute later.

 **Katlyn's POV**

The darkness had enough of me and threw me to the light. I tried to fight back, but the light already caught a hold of me. It was sad really, but as of late it did not matter. Celebi gave me an opportunity, and I took it. After living with the darkness for nearly a year, it felt strange to be in the light. I slowly opened one eye and then the other. The light from the late afternoon sun blinded me, causing me to close my eyes to the light. I tried again, and this time managed to keep them open. I tried to move, but everything felt off. Being taller again definitely messed with my head. I sighed as I struggled to sit up, but, after a few minutes, I was successful. I looked around slowly and found a Jolteon lying next to me. The light danced off his yellow fur and into the crevices of his old scars. Both of his eyes were shut, and he snored peacefully. Watching him reminded me of the things I had to do. Things I would never want to do ever again.

 **Flashback**

Three months I have been working in this base. Three months of doing whatever it took to get the codes I needed. I drearily trudged down the hallways to my next assignment. I was to help a Dr. Mitchel with some experiments. I cringed when my CO emphasized the word experiments; I knew that they would be nothing short from barbaric. I found myself standing before the lab door despite my purposeful slowness. I gave the door three, deliberate raps and waited. The door slid open and an older man stepped out.

"Oh, Kelly, it is good to see you again. I was hoping you would be able to visit again." Dr. Mitchel said brightly. I quickly masked my surprise and returned the greeting.

"Seems like I haven't seen you in forever. How long has it been, Doctor?" I asked nonchalantly, trying to pretend that I knew the man.

"It was a couple of weeks after that wretched Giovanni had my grandson cursed." the doctor said as he returned to his work. "I heard that you were given a Raichu. That is quite the responsibility."

"Yes, We have actually grown quite close." I replied. "So, how is your grandson, doctor?"

"He is doing well. He is back to his old self. Although, Giovanni won't let him leave the base. He is using him as a means to keep me in check. Unfortunately, keeping me in check means that he is forcing me to do some rather unethical projects." the scientist frowned.

This man seemed strange to me. He didn't seem to like the Team Rocket organization, yet he still helped them. I decided to take a gamble. "I guess I feel the same way. Team Rocket is nothing but a terrorism group. I really wished that I could snap my fingers and get out."

The man looked at me in alarm, but it wasn't out of being loyal of to the organization. It was alarm derived from fear. "Don't say that too loudly. Who knows what will happen if somebody hears that." the man whispered.

I nodded then continued. "I'm sorry. It slipped my mind. So what sort of trash are we going to be doing today?"

Dr. Mitchel walked over to one of the many counter-tops and picked up a clipboard. "See for yourself." Mitchel said with a hint of disgust in his voice. I looked it over and it made me want to kill the leader of this forsaken organization. It was totally inhumane. A crime against nature. Bile rose in my throat as I handed back the clipboard.

"How can he do this? It's… it's sickening!" I exclaimed unable to control myself.

"I know, but it is the price we must pay for joining these people. I used to not mind. I was allowed to research whatever I wanted, but I never once had to question my ethics. It was only when my I failed and my grandson was cursed that I began to realize that I was just as inhumane as the leader of this places." Mitchel sighed. The doctor walked across the room to the door.

"Unfortunately, we cannot do a thing. Not until they decide to get rid of us, right?" I asked. The doctor nodded then gestured for me to follow him.

We walked down several hallways until we reached the detention wing. A pair of guards stood on either side of the entrance. Both guards carried live-ammunition assault rifles. I took note of this as we walked by. The room was basically another hallway with cells on either side of the hallway. There were several guards standing in front of a single cell at the far end of the hallway.

"The prisoner is ready for escort doctor." one of the guards said while he saluted.

"Thank you. Are there any forms I need to fill out?" Mitchel asked.

"Yes sir. Let me fetch the papers for you." the guard replied as he hurried off at double time. I peered inside the cell as the guard ran off. Inside was a sleeping boy not much older than Caleb's original age. He was bruised and severely beaten. His clothes were torn and ragged. His face had mud and blood smeared all over it.

"Where did he come from?" I half muttered, half demanded.

"Huh? Oh, he was just some street urchin we picked up. That is where we get most of our subject. Nobody misses them so the authorities don't ever look for them. Believe it or not, we found him like that. Looks like he stole from the wrong gang." one of the guards said with an uninterested tone in his voice.

We took the boy back to the lab and strapped him down on the table. I inserted a needle into a vein and made sure that he was sufficiently sedated. I grabbed a clipboard and began checking off the steps we had taken. Looking back at the boy, I somehow saw peace. Despite this horrible place, he found true solace.

"We are ready to begin, Dr. Mitchel." I sighed. Mitchel nodded sadly and reached for a tray of syringes.

He pulled the first one off and injected it into an IV line. The affect was almost instant. The drug had forced the boy's body to jerk suddenly. The boy's face clenched out of pain despite the sleeping agents. The solace he once had disappeared replaced by torment. I turned away, unable to handle the sight.

 **Present**

"Zan? Wake up, we have to go." I whispered to the sleeping Jolteon. He mumbled something before he slowly shifted into a sitting position. He blinked several times before looking at me. His good eye and his clouded eye greeted me with warm relief. He looked as though he wanted to say something, but realized he could not.

"It's alright Zan. I know how to fix Caleb. I know how to save Mew." I told the mute Eeveelution. I gave him a reassuring smile, but his eyes remained unbelieving.

 **MK's POV**

I ran for about an hour straight. I was extremely tired, but I had to find somebody, anybody. Before I knew it, I had reached the outskirts of what appeared to be Lavender town. I was relieved to know that I had not teleported us into the middle of nowhere. I continued through the city, praying that I would be able to find Caleb and the others quickly.

My first stop was the Pokémon Center, or rather the lack thereof. The site alone was hard to swallow. It was an entire building that had disappeared. I crept to the ruins, doing my best not to get caught. As soon as I got there, I headed for the side that had once held our room. I took a look around. There wasn't much left. Even the smells had been erased by the storm earlier. Then I remembered something. There was another building nearby that I could go to. It was like a Pokémon Center for humans. I remembered hearing about Devin coming out of there after the incident in the sunken tower. With my mind made up, I scampered off in search of the human Pokémon Center.

 **Lawrence's POV**

The park was enjoyable thanks to the dying sun. It wasn't extremely hot, but it wasn't cold either. Caleb's mom picked a spot in the shady of an old oak tree and allowed Caleb to get some time away from people's arms. I watched Caleb as I waited for the others to relax a bit. After today, I felt like everyone would need to relax.

After it seemed like everyone had relaxed somewhat, I was tasked with gathering everyone up for another little meeting.

"Ok guys, time to go. Fun time's over. _"_ I told Devin and Emily as I ran by. All they heard was yelping and barking, but it got my point across. I looked around for Sam and Austin for a few minutes before I spotted them on the other side of the park. I dashed toward them; no soon than I started running, I tripped over something, and rolled head over tail on the ground.

"Ow! Watch where you are going you little… Lawrence! Thank goodness it's you! _"_ a little voice squeaked.

I turned my head, and found a pink Rattata staring at me. _"_ Um, do I know you? _"_ I asked.

"It's me! You know, MK. _"_ the legendary turned rodent whispered.

"MK! You're alright! Where is Zan, Jack, Basil, and Katlyn! _"_ I yelled.

"Keep it down. These ears are really sensitive. Zan is about an hour or two away from here. I ran the entire time so I don't know exactly how long it is. Katlyn is with Zan. I haven't seen Jack or Basil. _"_ MK explained.

"That's great! Katlyn is alive! _"_ I celebrated.

"Yeah, she is, but she doesn't want everyone to know. I sort of read her thoughts while she slept. She only wants three of y'all to know that she is alive right now. You, Austin, and Sam. _"_ MK said solemnly.

"Why? Caleb and his parent's should know that she is alive. _"_

"I don't really know. That part was a little hard to get to and I was leaving as soon as she appeared. All I know is that she is… different, and that she needs to see you, Austin, and Sam. _"_

"Alright, let's get Sam and Austin, and go. _"_ I said.

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I hope everyone one of you liked this chapter. I honestly had a hard time writing this one. I know that I am going to get some hate for not going in depth into Katlyn's time in the Rocket base, but I felt that I would have to write another story to fully capture what it was like there. That is why there are flashbacks. It is easier on me and it shows the key moments in the Rocket base. I am honestly glad that this chapter is out of the way. The next chapter, should be a little more exciting. If you are enjoying the story, be sure to smash that favorite/follow button. If you have anything to say be sure to leave a review or pm me. This is Shieldliger001 signing off.


	42. Chapter 42

What's up guys! Shield here, and feels great to get this chapter out so early compared to the other chapters. Anyways, I started drivers ed and gave myself a heart attack. My mom has me practicing in an F-250 which is extremely hard to get used to. There is not much else to talk about so let's get on to the reviews!

Monpoke: you don't have to say anything.

Caitou zzzzzz: I figured that would be obvious, but hey family is family. I was thinking about writing a little bit on that, I think it would be hilarious. I will be having a vote deciding whether or not to write a story on Katlyn's time in the Rocket base. I would include that with Katlyn's story.

Philip Harbindinger: I try to be unpredictable, and I am glad that you thought it was good. I am very interested in doing a story about Katlyn's time at the Rocket base, but I will need to see how everyone else feels about that.

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 **No work or love will flourish out of guilt, fear, or hollowness of heart, just as no valid plans for the future can be made by those who have no capacity for living now. Alan Watts**

 **Chapter 42**

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 **Sam's POV**

The prospect of seeing Katlyn again made me feel relieved. It also made me feel as if I was doing something wrong. Caleb deserved to know that his sister was alive, as did his parents, but if they knew, they would not allow Katlyn to come with us. She was the key that would unlock the doors of success. I pushed those notions to the back of my mind and ran for the edge of the park. Lawrence and Austin ran on either side of me. MK ran in front. We had almost made it outside of the park when two rather large forms jumped out of a nearby bush and stood stalk still in front of us.

" _And where do you think you four are_ _g_ _oing?"_ one of the figures spoke.

"Maggie! W-we just h-had something we needed to check into." I faltered.

" _Would that "something" have to do with Katlyn being alive and well? I am assuming that is the reason MK is here."_ Maggie probed.

"Y-yeah. MK said that she was alive and wanted to see us." I confessed. Austin, Lawrence, and MK stared at me incredulously. "I'm sorry! She scares the crap out of me! Especially after what happened at Fort Trell!"

" _You have nothing to worry about. I will not tell the adults. I will tell Caleb, however. He would feel better knowing his sister is still alive."_ I breathed out a sigh of relief and began to thank her, but she cut me off. _"However, my sister will be accompanying you. She wants to make sure Katlyn is alright, since it is obvious that she won't be coming here anytime soon."_ Maggie said. It was not a request. I nodded and Maggie took off. The other Ninetales stood and began walking towards the direction we were originally taking.

 **Lawrence's POV**

Aunt Ember didn't say a single word. I couldn't tell if she was upset or deep in thought. The excitement that originally filled the group had died away. No one said a single word as we ran towards the outskirts of town.

That part of the trip was the quietest and most tense part of the trip. As soon as we made it to the outskirts, however, everyone began to speak at once. Austin and Sam continually asked questions about Katlyn and MK was about to die from the constant flow of questions. I even asked several question. Although, mine were more about what had happened to him and Zan. MK, who had reverted to his regular form, nearly flew away. He would have if it hadn't been for Aunt Ember.

" _You three need to leave him alone. The boy has been through plenty and doesn't need you three causing him to have a headache."_ Aunt Ember declared. We all stopped talking and looked at the Ninetales. She wasn't the same as she was back before Pewter city. She seemed, tired, depressed even.

"Aunt Ember? What's wrong? You don't seem like your normal self. _"_ I questioned.

"There is nothing wrong per se. It is just this entire situation. I don't like it and I don't like going behind everybody's back. Your mother may be fine with it, but I am not. _"_ Aunt Ember replied as we walked.

"You didn't tell anyone, did you? _"_ I asked. Aunt Ember shook her head. We didn't say another word.

 **Sam's POV**

Time seemed to crawl by as we followed the road. Seconds felt like days and minutes felt like weeks. After what felt like aeons, we finally found her. Katlyn sat beneath a tree stroking Zan's fur. That was an instant red flag for me. Something had to have happened. Zan never let anyone touch him. He always seemed to despise humans, especially Katlyn; yet there he was, allowing Katlyn to stroke him. She looked over to our stunned group and gave us a sad smile.

"What took you guys so long?" she asked softly.

"You could have met us halfway. It would have been faster." I joked.

"I knew you would need the exercise so I stayed here." Katlyn replied as she stood up. She then threw herself at me, taking me by surprise. She hugged me tightly, and I just stood there trying to breath.

"K-Katlyn, I m-missed you too, but you are c-choking me!" I coughed. Katlyn released her grip on me and stared up into my eyes.

"You don't know how long it has been since I've seen y'all! For me, it has been nearly an entire year! I don't really want to tell you about it right now, but I will say that I know where every nook and cranny is in the base they took Mew. I also arranged some small caches with some supplies we will need. I know the codes we need. And guys, I know exactly where Mew is." Katlyn explained.

" _How do you know all of this?"_ Ember asked skeptically.

"I spent the last eleven months in that base. Trust me, I know what to do." she replied.

 **Caleb's POV**

Sam and Austin had disappeared, causing my mom to panic. She didn't know what to do and I had no way of calming her down. Emily and Devin tried, but to no avail. She even tried calling the police, but stopped when Maggie told her to.

"Carol, they are alright. You can't stop them, no matter what happens. If you call the police, the won't do anything because both of those boys are trainers. _"_ Maggie said persuasively.

"But they are just boys! They can't do that! They will die!" Mom sobbed.

"They won't die because there is too much on the line. You just have to trust them. Remember when we were young? We did many crazy things as well. We have taken out our fair share of criminals. Now, it is there we can do is go home and wait for them. _"_

Mom sighed and looked down at me. "Having my son back to a semi-normal age is not worth their lives." she said bitterly.

"Carol, it goes deeper than that. It isn't about Caleb anymore. It is about saving the world from a group that would use Mew for evil purposes. To them, saving the world is more important. Trust them, trust me. _"_ Maggie appealed.

Mom knelt down and picked me up. She looked from me to Maggie. A bittersweet smile formed on her lips. "Alright, but we are staying here to search for Katlyn's body."

"You don't need to. She is alive. She is the one leading Sam and Austin to the base. She is determined. They will succeed. _"_ Maggie said with resolve stronger than steel.

"My little girl is alive?" my mom asked.

"Yes, and she has already left for the base. _"_ Maggie replied.

 **Austin's POV**

The changes in Katlyn were apparent. She did her best to hide them, but the anger and depression made themselves evident. She seemed almost like a different person. I tried to figure out what could have happened. She said that she hadn't seen any of us in eleven months. Under normal circumstances, I would have said she was crazy, but it has been a long time since we have had normal circumstances. Eventually, my curiosity got the better of me and I said the first thing that came to mind.

"Katlyn, what happened to you? You seem so… bitter." I asked absentmindedly.

"You would be bitter as well if you experienced the things that I had to experience." she replied coldly. Her hawk-like eyes speared me like a predator spying its next meal. I thought of backing down, but this prey wasn't going down without a fight.

"We have all experienced bad things. Nothing you may have done could possible be so bad that you would change so much. So, what did you experience? What was so bad?" I asked firmly.

 **Katlyn's POV**

The quiet rage inside of me flared. The demons, fueled by sadness and self-hate, began to lash out violently. The last bits of self-restraint were fraying and threatened to snap. I was ready to explode. The restraints of my conscience held on just enough to keep the cages from rupturing. The rage slowly died down to a violent simmer.

I took several deep breaths and looked around. Everyone had stopped moving and was staring at me. I sighed and began the story.

 **Flashback**

The orders were quite clear. Bust down the door and extract the men inside. Dead or alive. I didn't want anything to do with this, but it was inevitable. I wasn't high enough in the hierarchy to bypass this kind of assignment. All I could do was pray that I didn't have to kill anyone.

I checked my sub-machine gun, helmet, and body armor like a robot. The gun was a sleek design like the ones seen in a movie. I recognized it because of some of the video games my friends played. It was an MP5, and, if it was anything like its video game counterparts, it chewed through lead and killed efficiently.

It started out like on T.V. we waited for the signal and burst through the door as soon as it was given. That was where the similarities ended. Instead of stunned residents, their was half a dozen armed men. The first two grunts that charged in were immediately gunned down. Bullets tore the first one nearly in two and the second one took a single round to the head. I managed to duck and roll into a small hallway and avoided getting turned into red confetti.

I sat there crying. The noise of automatic weapons chattering away deafened my sobs. Soon the shooting was over. I stayed in the hallway, hiding from the gore in the other room.

"Hey! We found survivors!" one of the other grunts yelled. I couldn't help but to take a peek. The room was painted in red. The two Rockets laid in pools of blood and a third was trying valiantly to staunch a large bloody hole in his leg. Other Rockets were tending to him. The other group was another story. Several men lay face down in pools of blood. A fourth man was slumped against the wall with three bullet holes through his chest, neck, and leg. A fifth man was draped over an overthrown table. He was breathing, but it was haggard. The sixth was also still alive. With his left hand, he clung to an empty pistol. His right hand clutched at a bullet wound about an inch above his heart. It hit him in such an angle that the bullet missed the more vital parts of his body. The CO walked inside, completely unfazed by the carnage that had just happened.

"Good, we will save them for Mr. Giovanni. Prepare to…" The CO looked at me venomously. "Did you fire a single shot?" He didn't wait for an answer and grabbed my gun. He inspected it then tossed it back to me. I caught it clumsily. "Corporal, you were given orders to shoot any threats, were you not?"

"Y-yes sir!" I replied shakily.

"Then why do you have a full magazine?" he asked, leaning in closer to me.

"I d-don't, Sir! I-I managed to get off o-one shot, Sir!" I bluffed.

"Liar! According to regulation, assault rifles and sub-machine guns are to be loaded under capacity by one round. Do you know why that is?" the Co asked.

"N-no, Sir." I replied in fear.

"We do this because it makes it easier for you to place the rounds into the magazine. When a mag is nearly at full capacity, it can be difficult to squeeze in that last round. Also, it can jam the gun if it becomes loose while being loaded." the CO explained out of scorn. "The weight of the magazine and the lack of heat from the barrel tells me that you have not fired a single shot."

"I a-am sorry, S-sir. I-it won't happen again." I replied.

"I daresay, it won't. Corporal Rack, bring over that man on the wall." the corporal nodded and yanked the other man to his feet. The other man screamed in pain as he was shoved in my direction. He fell to his knees directly in front of me, his hand still clutching the empty handgun. "Corporal Kelly, I want you to shoot this man. Avenge your comrades."

"I-I c-can't! Please don't make me do this!" I begged.

"Do it, Corporal! Or you will suffer a fate worst than death itself!" the CO roared as he yanked me to my feet. I sobbed as I placed the barrel to the man's head. He looked at me with sad eyes.

"I can tell that you aren't like them. You have a different purpose. Shoot me. Put me out of my misery. Fulfill your purpose." the man pleaded.

"I-I can't!" I yelled. I heard a familiar click from behind me. I turned around to see the barrel of a handgun aimed directly at my head.

"Do it, or you both will die." the CO threatened. I quickly turned back around. I tried to pull the trigger, but the man's pleading eyes caused me to choke.

"I am sorry about this, but you need to live." the man whispered under his breath. He flashed something out from under his belt and lunged at me. A steel blade made itself known as he aimed for my throat. It was pure reaction. White smoke filled the once unscathed hallway. The man collapsed to the floor dead. A single bullet had passed cleanly through his skull. I collapsed on the ground, unable to bear what I had just done. My MP5 clattered into a quickly forming pool of blood.

 **Present**

Sam, Austin, Lawrence, and MK stared out of shock. Jack managed to let himself out of his Pokéball and jumped onto my shoulder. He looked gloomy as he watched the crowd. Ember looked unchanged and Zan seemed to be accepting of what happened.

I saw what was coming. A flood of questions I did not want to answer. A flood of comments saying that it was not my fault, that somebody forced me to kill. I did not want that. I only needed them to accept the fact that I am not the same person they knew three days ago.

"Don't even start asking questions. Don't feel sorry for me. In fact, you can treat anyway you want. Just don't pity me. I told you what changed. That is what caused the change." I said before anyone could speak.

"Alright, I'll accept that. I think that you are the same person you always were. A rambunctious, head strong, slightly bossy, slightly annoying, little sister. That is what you are to me and that is how I still see you." Sam said with a smirk. His statement made something spark inside, but whatever it was quickly disappeared behind the walls of my more dominant feelings. I gave him a brief smile before falling back into an emotionless state.

"I haven't known you for very long, but you always struck me as someone who would never give up. No matter what life throws your way. Celebi wouldn't have let you go into something like that if she thought you couldn't handle it." Austin said.

"How did you know that Celebi was the one who sent me into the Rocket base?" I asked suspiciously. Austin pulled out a notebook and tossed it towards me.

"Celebi left this for me, Devin, and Emily. It tells us how everything is supposed to work out. Since time is fluid, it is hard to predict. However, she knew for certain that either you or your brother would have to go undercover. That part wasn't specific. I thought it would be Caleb since we couldn't find you and the notebook didn't say anything about a tornado. All it said was that there was a possibility that one of you would go undercover while we were at Lavender town." Austin explained. I flipped through the notebook with a small amount of interest. It gave an account of at least ten different possibilities and each of those possibilities had ten more possibilities. The final page had a record of each possibility that had happened. I assume that Austin had written this, since the handwriting had become more rugged. Certain entries caught my eye. Things like stayed with colony, and Devin overreacted seemed to be out of place to me.

"So, this entire time you had a book that could predict the future, and you didn't tell us about it?" I asked irately.

"Honestly, I only cared about the first page. It told us what we had to do and where we had to go. Besides, whenever I tried to look at the pages of the future, it would seal itself and I couldn't look at them anyways. Time does not allow for you know more than you should. It is how it protects itself. Only after a set of possible outcomes happen, will the next page unlock." Austin replied calmly. I opened the notebook to the next page and looked inside. I tried flipping the page to the next set of possibilities, but was unable to separate the pages. I sighed and handed it back to Austin.

"Can you at least tell me if we will succeed?" I asked almost pleadingly.

"No, I can't. This only tells you could have happened and what has happened. It won't say anything else until another set of events happen. I know about as much as you do." Austin replied.

 **Sam's POV**

After Katlyn's rather gruesome story, we were on our way again. Everyone tried to make things seem normal again, but it all seemed artificial. The joy that came from traveling seemed to disappear.

Even when we knew that we were walking into more questions, the time in between was jovial and exciting. Now it felt like we were walking straight into despair. No longer did the trees seem green. No longer were the birds singing, or the sun shining. To me, it felt like we had stepped into the inverted world. Nothing made any sense anymore. I had to try and fix this.

"Katlyn? Where are we heading first?" I asked. I had to try and figure out a way to get Katlyn out of her guilt. I had an idea but it had to match our route.

"There is a small airport near the town of Singno. There is a plane that can take us to Saffron and then from there we will have to take a connecting flight to Viridian." Katlyn explained.

"Wait, we are going to Singno? The actual Singno?" I asked.

"Um, yeah. Is there a problem with that?" Katlyn asked.

"Guys, I am new to this world; what is Singno?" Austin spoke up.

"Singno is like the capital of computer advancement here in Kanto. It is where they design the Pokédex, the best computers come out of Singno, and pretty much every single game company is based there!" I exclaimed.

"Oh so it is basically Silicon Valley." Austin replied nonchalantly.

"I am not exactly sure what that is, but we will go with that."

"It doesn't matter because we won't be staying. We have a plane waiting for us there and we are not staying for any tours. We have a mission to complete, and I want to finish it as soon as possible." Katlyn said firmly.

"Aw man, you need to lighten up. Man, even before you disappeared you still didn't want to have fun." I pouted. Katlyn just rolled her eyes.

 **Katlyn's POV**

We camped out for the night in a small clearing close to the road. Sam and Austin quickly set up a tent. They started to climb in, but stopped and looked at each other out of confusion.

"Thanks for the help, Austin, but I am not sharing my tent with you. Use your own." Sam said as he started inside.

"I don't know if you noticed, but that is _my_ tent. You grabbed it out of _my_ backpack." Austin replied coolly.

"No, I grabbed it out of my bag next to the tree. Yours is right… next… to… it. Crap." Sam muttered as he and Austin peered at the bags. Both were unzipped and both had tent bags sticking out.

"Um why did you get the same tent as me?" Austin asked.

"I have had this tent since forever. So don't give me that crap."

"Ok, fine, but why are both tent bags empty?"

"Uhhh" Both boys, looked over in my direction as I finished setting up the tent. I tossed my stuff inside and began zipping up the door.

"Katlyn! That's our tent!" they yelled in unison.

"Well, now it's my tent. See y'all in the morning!" I answered with a smirk. I zipped up the door and got ready for bed.

Austin and Sam bickered for another half hour before they finally compromised and went to sleep. I couldn't sleep however and stayed up, staring at the canvas ceiling. Bored and restless, I got out of my sleeping bag, grabbed my Pokébelt and quietly stepped outside. Austin and Sam both snored loudly, so I didn't bother stepping quietly. I walked in silence through the trees. The moon was out, giving me enough light to see where I was going. Soon I found a small creek that ran parallel to the path we were taking. I followed it for a short ways and found that it emptied into a rather large stream. The bank became rocky and soon was covered with great slabs of stone. I climbed up onto one of the slabs and pulled out my three Pokéballs. I released Basil first. He had yet to see me and I needed to apologize for that. I allowed the orb to grow and released the snake. He looked around for a second before spotting me.

"Mistress, how may I be of ssservice?" the Arbok asked as he bowed before me.

"Basil, how many times have I told you that you don't need to bow to me?" I asked.

"Two hundred and twenty-five timesss, Mistress. _"_ the snake replied.

"Then why do you insist on doing it?"

"It showsss that I ressspect you and that I am only a lowly ssservant, and that I… _"_ I smiled at the snake and allowed him to ramble on for a bit. He eventually stopped and for the first time since I met him, he slithered over to me and looked me directly in the eyes. _"_ You are troubled, Mistress. What isss the matter? _"_

"Basilisk, you are the king of the snakes in the region. Have… have you ever had to kill a person because you had no other choice?" I asked quietly. Basil was quiet for the next couple of seconds. He gave off a hiss that substituted a sigh and stared into the moonlit water.

"You mussst underssstand, I wasss the king of a tribe of snakesss. There are many tribesss and many kingsss. Therefore, I am not king of all of the snakesss in the region. Your question isss very hard to anssswer. I have killed before. Both ssso I could eat and out of defenssse of my posssition. _"_ Basil answered. _"_ During my reign, there wasss one snake that ssshould not have died. He wasss a ssstrong one and wasss fiercely loyal. Hisss younger brother plotted to sssteal my throne. He warned me, but I did not listen. At that time, I wasss young and thought I wasss invincible. He protected me while hisss brother tried killing me. Hisss brother killed him. Ssslashed hisss throat and let the blood pour. Out of blind rage, I sssmote his younger brother. If I had listened to him, then he would have still been alive. _"_

"How do you live with that?" I asked quietly.

"I live by trying to be better than that. To try and listen to what othersss have to sssay. That snake taught me to listen and I alwaysss think on what happened. Sssure sssomething like that ssshould not happen, but all you can do isss remember it and use it to change into another. At leassst that isss what I do. _"_

"Basilisk, I… I killed someone when you were away in your Pokéball. I didn't want to! I was forced to both by him and several others! That experience and so many more changed me into this cold-hearted person that I don't want to be!" I cried. The Arbok hissed quietly and coiled around me.

"Mistress, you are not cold-hearted. You ssstill have emotionsss. You proved that just by confessing your sssinsss. _"_ Basilisk comforted.

* * *

I hoped everyone enjoyed the chapter. I thought is was a little dark, but I think it turned out alright. I want everyone to look at the name Singno and try to find out where the name came from. I think it is obvious, but in case it's not, reread the paragraph that describes the town. Anyways, a few of you have requested a store about Katlyn's time in the Rocket base. I would definitely be interested in writing a story on it if you guys are interested. I have set up a poll in order to see how many people are interested in Katlyn's story at the Rocket base. So, be sure to vote! If you have anything to say be sure to leave a review. If you are enjoying the story, be sure to smash that favorite/follow button. This is Shieldliger001 signing off.


	43. Chapter 43

Hey guys, shield here. I hope you like battles because there are about to be a whole slew of them! For those of you who don't know, I have put up a poll on my profile. So far, I have three votes and if you guys want to see a story about Katlyn's time in the Rocket base, you will go and vote yes. Anyways this was originally going to be out on the fourth, but I forgot to upload it. Then I decided to rewrite the second half of the chapter. That took even more time. Anyways, happy late Fourth of July to those in the States and to those in the Philippines whose Independence Day is also on the fourth. I would also like for all of you that have friends and families that are cops to tell them how special they are and how appreciative you are for the putting themselves in danger. The Police Massacre in Dallas has caused a lot of hurt in the Police communities and they need our support more than ever. Remind them that we need them and look up to them. Well, let's get onto the reviews.

Monpoke: Thanks for your suggestion on putting a poll on my profile page. I honestly forgot about that feature!

Caitou zzzzzz: I figured if Pokémon could understand humans and even learn human speech, then why couldn't humans do the same? I always thought life was kind of like the "book of possibilities." You look back and you can see what could have happened and also how you got to the current point.

Philip Harbindinger: I am glad you thought it turned out well. I hope you feel that this chapter turned out well also.

* * *

 **Work hard for what you want because it won't come to you without a fight. You have to be strong and courageous and know that you can do anything you put your mind to. If somebody puts you down or criticizes you, just keep on believing in yourself and turn it into something positive.**

 **Leah LaBelle**

* * *

 **Chapter 43**

 **Sam's POV**

"So, where to first? _"_ I asked as we walked down the streets of Singno. It was the first time I had been in the computer capital and it was amazing. The street we were on was lined with computer, electronics, and game stores. Large advertisement screens flashed updates on the new and improved models of computers. People bustled about as they went to and fro from each store. I was excited to say the lease and yet, something told me that I would not be able to indulge in my pursuit of the latest technology. Katlyn confirmed that feeling.

"We are headed straight to the airport. We need to purchase our tickets as fast as we can." Katlyn said as we walked. She hadn't said much since we came to town. She seemed to be even less open now than when she first came back. I guess I couldn't blame her. She had to do some awful things. I thought about trying to make her open up, but figured that would be a bad mistake.

"Hey Katlyn, how much are these tickets?" Austin asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"I honestly don't remember. We'll ask when we get there. It shouldn't be that much seeing as how we are only going to Saffron City." she answered.

"Oh, well I hope you are right. I only have about fifty bucks."

"Yeah, now that I think about it, most of our money was in our bags when the tornado hit." I added.

"Wait, so how much money do we have in all?"

"Austin has fifty, I have fifteen, and whatever you have." I replied.

"Crap! I only have seventy-five! What have y'all been doing when I was gone? Crying? Arguing?" Katlyn yelled angrily.

"We were taking care of your brother, and looking for you!" I snapped.

Katlyn faltered then looked away from us, a single tear streamed down her face. "Look, I am sorry, I shouldn't have said it like that." I muttered remorsefully.

"Whatever, let's keep moving. We can at least see how much the tickets will be." Katlyn started walking down the street, suddenly self-conscious of the stares she was receiving from all of the people who had witnessed the outburst.

It took us a couple of hours before we reached the other side of town. The airport was still in the city limits but it was a mile away from the residential sector. I guess they figured people wouldn't want to hear jets night and day. We walked until we came to the main entrance. Before we walked in, I stopped everyone.

"Ok so, Katlyn, let me do the talking. I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea. Remember that you are still technically under my supervision." I reminded before we continued into the airport.

It really wasn't all that busy. There were a few people here and there, but nothing that would cause us to get separated. We walked up to the main counter where a woman sat typing away at a computer terminal. She looked up with very little interest as we approached. It took her a moment to realize that we were potential customers.

"Can I help you kids?" she asked in a condescending manner.

"Yeah, we are trainers and we were wondering how much a ticket to Saffron City would cost." Austin spoke up before I could even open my mouth.

"How many tickets will you need? Do you three have any parents that will be accompanying you?"

"No, just the three of us." I said, cutting off Austin.

"Well then, I am afraid that I will not be able to allow you to by any tickets. The law clearly states that children must be attended by their parents." the woman replied snidely as she pointed at Katlyn.

"Look, she has a JTP right here." I said as Katlyn handed the woman the card. She studied it then began typing new set of inquiries into the computer.

"I do have a Katlyn Ward in the system with a JTP. Are you her assigned guardian?" I pulled out an envelope with several papers in it. I handed them to the woman who quickly scanned through the signatures. "I will also need to see your trainer ID."

"Here you go, is there anything else?" I asked impatiently. The woman shook her head as she passed everything back to me.

"Three tickets to Saffron City will be… oh, it seems that all flights to and from Saffron have been canceled.

"What? Why?" Katlyn exclaimed. The woman's eyes narrowed at Katlyn's outburst.

"There was a large storm system that passed through about a week ago. The storm caused heavy damage to the terminal and fueling stations. The airport won't be open for another week." the woman replied haughtily.

"Are there any flights that can connect us to Viridian City?" I asked.

"There is a flight that lands at Cinnabar International Airport and goes to Viridian City. Would you like to book three seats?"

"How much will it cost?" Austin asked.

"For three tickets, it will cost about one thousand five hundred dollars."

To say that we were surprised would be an understatement. We were flat out shocked. I looked at Austin and Katlyn for help, but found that they had nothing that would help.

"A-alright, we will be back later. Come on guys." I said as I dragged Katlyn out of the airport.

"Ok, so now what? That is a lot of money and we really don't have a way to earn that much." Austin said.

"I guess we could challenge what few trainers there are here." I suggested.

"Let's go to the Pokémon center and see if there are any tournaments with cash prizes. A lot of towns without gyms tend to have decent sized tournaments." Katlyn said.

"I guess we can do both, considering that's where most trainers hang out when they are just passing through." Austin said as we walked back into town.

The Pokémon center was hidden within the town. Unlike most towns, there wasn't a lot that had to do with Pokémon. There were no trainers, there were no roaming Pokémon. The advertisements for Pokémon products were replaced with advertisements for Pokédexes, battle apps, and new types of trainer electronics gear. With the entire town focusing on technology, it wasn't hard to believe that Pokémon themselves weren't the highlight of the town's economy.

The center was small with an equally small staff. In all, there were only four people on duty when we arrived. We asked around for some local information which ended with us being directed to a bulletin board in the corner of the reception area. Me and Katlyn perused it for a second while Austin went off to find some trainers. There wasn't much about tournaments. There was only one tournament, but the prize was a Porygon.

"I think we just need to cut our loses and try to find some odd jobs around town." I suggested.

"No job is going to pay that much in so little time." Katlyn pointed out.

"Hey guys, I just won a hundred bucks from some kid. I asked him if he knew of any tournaments that would pay cash as the prize. He told me that there was one that had a Porygon as the grand prize. Here's the best part. For every trainer you beat, you get two hundred bucks paid out to you in cash!" Austin shouted as he ran across the lobby.

"That isn't what the poster says. It says that you win a Porygon. That's it." I said doubtfully

"Yeah, knowing our luck, you would win then have to pay for the Porygon." Katlyn muttered.

"Come on, guys. It's not like we have much to lose."

"Fine, how about all three of us signing up. That way, we all have a chance at getting the prize." Katlyn suggested.

"Katlyn, I don't have a Pokémon to use. Remember?" I reminded.

"Oh yeah, that could be a problem. You won't be able to control Zan. He barely listens to me. I am kind of used to battling with Jack so you can have Basil. You did say that you wanted to work with him more." Katlyn decided. She unclipped Basil's Pokéball from her belt and handed it to me.

"Let's get registered and then practice some. I don't want to be too rusty." I said. Everyone nodded and went off to find the registration forms.

 **Katlyn's POV**

It turned out that we had to register online. I did worry about being able to sign up because of my age, but it turned out to be fine as long as Sam had his signed copy of the JTP on him. We filled out the forms and submitted them, only to have the web page say we didn't fill out the entire form.

"Why you stupid piece of crap!" Austin yelled as he tried to submit the form again.

"Will you hurry up? I would really like to turn mine in sometime today. The tournament is tomorrow you know." I demanded impatiently.

"I can't figure out why it won't let me submit it!" Austin replied heatedly.

"Let me see the computer!" I said. I began to read the form over and finally found his mistake. "It says we have to have a minimum of two Pokémon per trainer."

"That's just great. I don't have a second Pokémon." Austin muttered under his breath.

"Katlyn! We need another Pokémon! We both do!" Sam hollered.

"So? We have Lawrence, Ember is already registered with me. Oh, I bet if you ask MK, he would be happy to battle." I replied.

"Great, who get's who?" Austin asked as he turned to me.

"I'll take Lawrence. You can take MK." Sam decided. Austin looked at me then shook his head.

"I don't think so. He has no experience whatsoever. At least Lawrence has gone through all eight gyms."

"Hey, you don't have to use him. Just use your Lucario."

"I can't. The rules say that you have to switch out Pokémon every battle."

"Alright, I guess that I am going to have to choose. You knuckleheads will miss the tournament if you keep this up." I said as she crossed the room. I looked between them. Then Sam noticed that MK was peeking over my shoulder.

"He heard everything we said didn't he?" Austin asked, his face reddening out of embarrassment. I confirmed it with a nodded.

"Sam, since you tried to pass him off first, MK will go with you." Sam began to protest but I shot him my patented death glare. Sam sighed, defeated, and waited for his turn. We didn't have anymore trouble with the computer.

 **MK's POV**

"MK, let's go, we need to give you a little training for the tournament tomorrow." Sam said as he finished registering. He made me feel like crap when he was talking to Austin. I begrudgingly followed him.

The training area was tiny compared to the one in Lavender Town. I thought that one was small. This one was barely large enough for a single one on one battle. Sam took out a Pokéball and released the Pokémon inside. The Arbok spawned directly in front of us. I figured that I would be practicing with him instead of having Sam working one on one with me like most trainers.

"First, I want to say sorry for insulting you earlier."

The apology caught me off guard and I really didn't have a clue as to what I was going to say. I decided not to say anything. Sam looked at me with a slightly disheartened look.

"Look, it's not that I think you are a bad kid or anything, it's just that your mom turned Caleb into a Vulpix because he wanted to help you. I was thinking about how she would react when she found out that I let you battle; that I let you get hurt." Sam continued. He once again waited for a response.

" _It's ok, I understand."_ I said with a sigh, although I really didn't understand. I was tired of all the fear my mom caused everyone, both people and Pokémon. I understood the fear. I didn't understand the logic. _"But, I don't care. I know that my mom is over protective. She doesn't want me to get hurt, but she would understand if I helped you with this tournament. That is what makes me upset, and that is the part I don't understand. I may not have experience, but it is your job as a trainer to give me that experience. My bloodline doesn't stop you from doing your job."_

Sam looked around at the mostly empty lot. Basilisk stared at me approvingly. Then turned to look at Sam. "You're right. I will train you, but we are going to have to be incognito. It would be dangerous for you to be in your Mew form."

" _Great! Then let's get started!"_ I yelled enthusiastically, surprising both Basil and Sam.

"Ok, first I think we need to pick a Pokémon for you to be." Sam said thoughtfully.

I really didn't let him think. Instead, I quickly transformed into something that would be rather impressive if they still were alive. The shocked look on his face told me everything I needed to know.

"Um, MK? I don't think that will work. For one thing, Tyrantrum are extinct and for another, how do you think you are going to maneuver when you are a giant dinosaur?"

" _Can I at least be the pre-evolved form?"_ I practically begged.

"How big is the pre-evolved form?" Sam asked warily. I transformed back into my regular form, then hurriedly transformed into a Tyrunt. The process was tiring, but I managed.

"That's better, I guess." Sam said as he pulled out his Pokédex. He scanned me and waited for the response.

"Mew the new species Pokémon, Mew is said to possess the genetic composition of all Pokémon. It is capable of making itself invisible at will, so it entirely avoids notice even if it approaches people." the metal device said.

"No you stupid thing! I want to know about Tyrunt!" Sam yelled. He began surfing through the entries and finally came across what he was looking for. He started to mutter as he skimmed the pages inside. "I guess it can tell that you aren't naturally a Tyrunt."

"Tyrunt, the royal heir Pokémon. Tyrunt will throw tantrums and run wild if it encounters something it does not like. Its strong jaws have enough force to shred an automobile." the Pokédex beeped. Sam pressed a few buttons and went onto the move list.

"As a Tyrunt, you can use, who am I kidding? You can use anything you want. Let's just look at your move set, that you can use at this moment. As a Mew you, can use Pound, Reflect Type, Transform, and Mega Punch at the moment. At this developmental level, as a Tyrunt you can use, Tackle, Tail Whip, Roar, and Stomp." Sam looked back at me. All I could do was shrug, although it probably didn't look like a shrug. Sam sighed out of disappointment. "We are in deep trouble. None of those moves are power moves. You know eight moves and only one is a decent move."

"Master MK, if I could make a suggestion to Master Samuel. _"_ I nodded and allowed for Basil to talk telepathically. _"Master Samuel, I happen to know a few moves that the Tyrunt species shares with my own. They are quite powerful. Since he is a Mew, he should pick up on them rather quickly."_

"Which moves?" Sam asked. "And how do you know what Tyrunt is?" There was a gleam in the snake's eye. It was kind of scary. I couldn't tell if he was using Mean Look or just being secretive. Either way, Sam dropped the subject.

" _Master Samuel, will_ _you_ _please leave the room? I must do this in_ _without distraction_ _."_ the Arbok asked. Sam slowly exited the room, leaving me with the large snake. _"_ First thing's first. You are a Mew so you are capable of quite a few amazing feats. I expect some amazing things from you. _"_

 **Sam's POV**

I was probably the only trainer to have ever been kicked out of the training room by his own Pokémon. I tried to think of what they could be doing in there, but I only drew a large blank. After three hours of waiting for some sign that I could come in, I heard three sharps raps at the door. I stood and opened the door.

MK reverted to his Mew form and peered at me with curious glance. Basil gave me a satisfied hiss and slithered toward me.

" _We decided that he needs to battle as himself, despite the danger. I think you will be proud of what MK learned. He is still a little shaky, but he has all of the moves memorized."_

"Great, let's see what you can do." I replied with smirk as I motioned for Basil to come to my side. "MK, you are going to fight Basil so I can see what you learned. After that, we will go over strategy."

MK and Basil both nodded and got into position. I gave Basil an order and he started off with a Poison Fang attack.

 **Austin's POV**

Elweard and I walked down to the training room to see what was taking Sam so long. Katlyn decided to "rest up" by taking a nap, so she stayed in the room. I didn't know what to make of her new attitude. She was more uncaring than she used to be. I shrugged off the thought a continued down the hallway.

" _Is something troubling you master?"_ Elweard asked as we walked.

"No, not really. I am just ready for this whole ordeal to be over." I replied. I waited several seconds before continuing. "It's just that I wish everything was normal again. After this fiasco with Mew is over, we'll go home and we will still be five, eight, and eleven. Devin will probably blame me for everything and my parents are going to have a heart attack. In my world, people don't just turn into animals, or wish for something to happen and it does. Our world is based on being able to prove what we see. We are a dilemma. We obviously defied the laws of nature, yet nobody in our world saw it."

" _Master, even in this world, the things that has happened to you, and the Wards are not a common occurrence. What happened to you was a violation of several unspoken laws. It is a crime for most Pokémon to curse humans, the exception to this are the Ninetales and the legendaries. There are a few others that are allowed to out of defense, but the majority of the Pokémon who can either won't or don't know they can. My point is, that this world is not much different from your own. Only the extremist believe in curses and they are few and far between. Just like your world, everything that happens here must be based on scientific fact."_

"Elweard, what will you do when we head home." I asked as I opened the door to the training area. I stepped inside, but was immediately tackled to the ground. A cloud of laced needles flew over me and smashed into the hallway wall behind me.

" _I will be by your side protecting you. Even in your own world."_ the Lucario replied. I smiled at the Lucario then turned my attention to the small, shocked group standing in silence.

"Will you guys mind watching where you shoot those things!" I yelled as I brushed myself off.

"Sorry, we got a little carried away." Sam apologized, rubbing the back of his neck and smiling nervously.

"Whatever, Katlyn just wanted to see how you were doing." I replied, cutting straight to the point.

"It's actually going pretty smoothly. MK is doing great. I think we will be ready for tomorrow."

"Good… hey, do you mind if we battle right quick? I want to see what you have been working on." I asked quickly.

Sam thought about it for a couple of seconds then nodded. "Sure, I want to see how MK does outside of just practicing for a couple of hours."

"Great, lets get some dinner first, then we can battle."

Everyone, including Sam agreed and we headed to the cafeteria.

We grabbed a quick bite to eat and headed to the battlegrounds. Katlyn agreed to be the judge and stood to the side of the battlefield. I was itching for something a little more interesting than the trainers that only had Rattata and Caterpie which seemed to plague this side of the region. Sam and I stood ready at our respective ends of the battlefield as Katlyn began to announce the rules.

"This will be a one-on-one battle between Sam and Austin. You both are allowed to use two Pokémon. The winner will be declared when one trainer has no more usable Pokémon. Begin!" Katlyn announced, not very enthusiastically.

 **Third Person POV**

The battlefield instantly filled with chaos as Sam sent out his first Pokémon. He didn't throw a Pokéball since the Pokémon was already out waiting for the battle to begin. MK flew out onto the field with lightning speed. Austin responded by sending out Lawrence. Austin ordered Lawrence to start off with a flamethrower. The little fox opened his muzzle and allowed a blast of superheated flames to escape. MK didn't need to be told to dodge as he flew above the flames. MK, backed by Sam, began to try to get in close. Soon the orders were being followed without them being noticed. Lawrence jumped back as MK threw a Mega Punch. The attack hit the air and nothing else, however, before Lawrence and Austin could counter-attack, MK began a series of Mega Punches. The sudden onslaught of attacks surprised Lawrence and he was hammered by three punches in a row. Each one knocking him back several feet. Austin, fearing that Lawrence would soon pass out, ordered for Lawrence to surround himself with flames. Lawrence did and forced MK to back off lest he be injured. Austin picked up the advantage and told Lawrence to rush in with a Flame Wheel. MK was slammed into the dirt and let out a brutal cry. Sam looked at the young Mew with worry. He knew he shouldn't have let him battle. He shook those thoughts out of his head and ordered for MK to use Double Team. MK darted from where he landed, the attack that hit him took its toll, but didn't keep him from continuing the fight. Copies of MK shot out from him and he was soon lost within a room full of clones of the little Mew. Lawrence looked all around, but couldn't decide which one was real.

Sam smiled at the confusion and knew that everything was going according to plan. He knew that this next move would be crucial for defeating the fire fox. Sam waited to give the order until it was just right. "MK, try that new combo that we practiced! Use Icy Poison!"

All of the clones as well as the real MK dove at Lawrence. Their fangs began to glow an ominous purple before being frozen and covered over by slightly purple ice. Lawrence flinched as the clones disappeared one by one as they attacked. It wasn't until an icy feeling punctured his neck that Lawrence and Austin realized that he had been hit. MK retreated and reformed the Double Team, waiting for more orders. Lawrence didn't really feel the hit and made it obvious to everyone.

"All that setup for a scratch! I guess you need to practice that combo some more! Lawrence! Overheat!" Austin taunted. Sam and MK only smirked.

"I would think again before using a move like Overheat!" Sam shouted across the battlefield. "That combo we made has a nasty side-effect when heated."

"W-what do you mean?" Austin asked. The concern in his face became quite clear.

"The move is a combination of the moves Ice Fang and Poison Fang. We came up with it as a way to stop grass types, rock types, and bug types. It would be a way to both freeze and poison a Pokémon in a single strike. I thought about it for a second and realized that we could use it as a way to stop fire types from using fire. If you use a fire type move, it heats up the crystallized poison that was injected through the bite causing it to melt even faster than it already is. Lawrence would be badly poisoned and wouldn't last long since the poison would spread even faster as he used the fire attacks. Right now, you could try using Overheat and try to finish MK at this moment, however Lawrence would most likely pass out before I sent in Basilisk, or you could fight on without fire and try to finish MK off with other attack types. Either way, your one major advantage has been taken out." Sam smirked. Austin looked at the small icy spot on the back of Lawrence's neck and frowned. He tried to think of something that would help them win. He settled on a single move.

"Lawrence! Use Swift!" Lawrence nodded and an array of yellows stars appeared and shot towards a single version of MK, the real one. MK was hit and all of the clones disappeared. MK fell to the ground, but wasn't out for long. He flew at a lightning quick pace as Sam ordered for a Mega Punch. The little Mew's paw glowed a bright blue as he thrust his paw at Lawrence. Lawrence ducked a split second before the punch hit. Lawrence gave MK, no time to get away. The move seemed to slow time. MK had slowly sailed over Lawrence. Before he had completely cleared Lawrence's attack range. Austin yelled the order, but Lawrence had already begun the attack. Heat waves began to billow off of Lawrence. The heat soon turned into visible waves of fire as the soaring temperatures began to superheat the air around it. MK was caught in the heat wave. He let out a long, agonizing screech as he fell to the ground. The move ended a couple of seconds later. Sam stood there, not believing what he had just witnessed. The move he and MK devised had failed its main objective. It failed from keeping Lawrence from using Overheat. MK didn't so much as twitch. One would have said that he had been killed by the attack. However, if one looked closely, they would be able to see the sharp and uneven breathes the little Mew was sucking in. Lawrence was still standing. He started to stand as straight as he could, but the Icy poison move completed its secondary objective. It superheated the poisoned ice crystals that had been circulating inside Lawrence's blood stream. The poison caused reality to blur. Lawrence collapsed not three feet away from his defeated opponent.

"MK and Lawrence are unable to battle! Trainers, choose your next Pokémon!" Katlyn yelled once we were sure nobody would stand up again.

Sam walked onto the battlefield and picked up the limp Mew.

" _Sorry, I screwed that up."_ MK muttered as Sam carried him across the finish line.

"Hey, you did great! Lawrence defeated every single gym leader and you almost beat him! I am proud that you did so well!" Sam praised the little Mew. MK smiled then fell into a deep slumber.

Austin returned Lawrence and looked down at the Pokéball. He smiled softly. "If we hadn't been so careless."

The battle resumed as Sam tossed a modern Pokéball onto the battlefield. Basilisk, appeared and coiled into a defensive posture.

Austin, unlike Sam, pulled out an antique Pokéball. The gray object had a single, red knob on the top of the sphere. Austin twisted it and the top half of the Pokéball dropped open. Light spilled out like water and began to take shape of a Lucario. The Lucario was still somewhat of a mystery to Sam and Katlyn. Austin didn't say much about him, and Sam and Katlyn never asked about him either.

"Basilisk! Use, stockpile!" Sam yelled. Basil lifted up his head and began to intake large beads of energy that seemed to appear out of nowhere. The energy built up in his mouth before it dispersed throughout his body. Austin ordered for an Aura Sphere which he quickly charged up in his paws. The air began to waver as waves of aura formed into a ball. Elweard didn't seem to aim as he threw the ball of aura with indeterminable force. The ball traveled towards Basil. Sam ordered Basil to dodge which Basil had already started to do. Basil managed to get away by mere inches. The ball sailed on for a few more feet before exploding. The shock force caused Basil to wince which allowed Elweard to hit him with a Bone Rush attack. Elweard smacked Basil three or four times before Basil could escape. The move, which was super effective, did a good amount of damage to the serpent. Basil, backed by Sam, began to glow as he used Swallow. The wounds he had slowly disappeared and he looked good as new.

'That was way too early. I need to do it faster. If I can get him to…' Sam's thoughts were interrupted by a terrible hiss. Basil flew back several feet as his Lucario opponent finished using Force Palm. Sam knew that if he didn't do something fast, Basil would lose. "Basil! Use Scary Face."

Elweard had already started dashing towards Basil. Before he hit, however, Basil rose over the Lucario. The markings on his belly seemed to grow ten times their normal size and a low, eerie hiss escaped from his mouth. Elweard stopped in his tracks and stared nervously at the snake.

While Elweard was entranced by the markings. Sam ordered for three consecutive Stockpiles. Elweard shook his head just as the third Stockpile had finished. He charged again, however, at a much more cautious pace. Basil, just like his real life counter-part, struck like lightning. Fire enveloped his jaws as he bit down on Elweard's shoulder. Elweard let out a loud yelp, before charging up an Aura Sphere and shoving it into Basil's belly. Basil hissed angrily as he was flung back. He coiled as soon as he landed. The Stockpile had done its job as the powerful aura attack only did minor damage to the Arbok. Elweard was different, his shoulder burned with undying heat. On the surface he was healthy aside from his shoulder, but the inside was a different story. All he could see was that image of the Arbok's markings. It tortured his memory and made him hesitant. He knew what had to be done, but it was up to Austin, not him.

Austin looked at his Pokémon with an analytical eye. He knew that Elweard would be suffering from the psychological effects of Scary Face. It would scare him as well, but he had an idea. Hopefully, it would pan out.

"Elweard! Use Extreme Speed!" Austin yelled as his Pokémon trembled.

Elweard closed his eyes. Time felt as though it had stopped. When he opened his eyes, everything was in slow motion. He easily walked up to Basil and prepared for time to resume its normal speed. When it did, he hit Basil hard in the gut. The snake doubled over as he tried to regain his breath. Elweard pressed the advantage with Force Palm to the head. He reared his left arm for a follow up, but stopped when Basil lunged at him with flaming fangs. He backed away just enough to allow the fangs to miss, but was hit by Basil's tail. It had a strange metallic gleam, akin to that of an Iron Tail. It forced Elweard back, but didn't harm him too badly. Elweard performed a back flip and landed several feet away to catch his breath. He heard Austin order a Flash Speed combo. He smirked, knowing that countless Pokémon had lost because of that very combination.

To Basil, Elweard disappeared. He knew that he couldn't take much more abuse, even with three Stockpiles saved up. He and Sam were in a dilemma. If Sam ordered for him to use Swallow, he would be able to heal his injuries, but would lose the defensive edge it gave him. If he didn't, then Elweard would just keep coming, even with the Scary Face's effects. He waited for the inevitable to happen, but Sam had other plans.

"Basilisk! Use Earthquake before he reappears!" Sam yelled at the top of his lungs. Basil glowed with energy, then released it into the ground. The entire room began to shake and just as planned, the Lucario was tripped up. He reappeared just in front of Basil, literally two seconds away from unleashing a deadly Flash Cannon/Extreme Speed combination. The Flash Cannon overshot Basil by a bare inch. If the battle area had not been specially prepared for attacks like Flash Cannon, there would have been no roof to speak of. Elweard fell to the ground, huffing and wheezing. Basil shot towards Elweard and wrapped himself around the Lucario and began to squeeze. Elweard tried desperately to escape; it was like the Pokédexes say, once the Arbok wrapped his body around his foe, escaping was impossible.

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I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. Be sure to vote on my poll if you haven't already. Also, if you are enjoying this story and have anything to say, be sure to leave a review. Also be sure to smash that favorite/follow button! This is Shieldliger001 signing off.


	44. Chapter 44

Hey guys, I am sorry that this came out so late. I was working summer camp all week last week and now I am on vacation. I would like to thank Monpoke for drawing me a book cover for OMAA. If you haven't seen it be sure to check it out. I also need to reiterate that I do not own Pokémon although I wish I did. I can't wait for the 8th. If any of you listen to skillet, then you know why. Their new album, Unleashed, will be coming out. That and the fact that I will be getting a new Xbox One, may cause me to not write for a few days so I just thought that I should get that out into the air. Enough of my jabbering, on to the reviews!

Monpoke: Katlyn was only in the other girls body when she was in Team Rocket's base. When the Banette brought her back, she was in her original body. Hope that clears things up for ya. Thanks for reviewing as always.

AveragePichu: Philip? Philip, is that you? Lol, I just had to do that.

* * *

 **We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten. Don't let yourself be lulled into inaction.**

 **Bill Gates**

 **Chapter 44**

 **Charles' POV**

"Hey Doc. How are you doing today?" I asked walking through the lab door.

"I am doing fine Lieutenant. Are you ready to get started on your examination?" Mitchel nodded as he began cleaning up.

I looked around the lab. It was just as sterile as I remembered. I walked over to the examination table and sat down.

"Alright, role up your sleeve and let me get some blood samples." Mitchel ordered. I obeyed and waited for the slight pinch that I knew would come. I closed my eyes and felt the pinch.

"So how has the study of Mew been going?"

"It has gone smoothly. It is somewhat classified so I can't tell you much. I will say that the Mew's blood could change the world."

"For the good or the bad?" I muttered.

"That, I can't tell you." Mitchel quickly replied.

"So, what happened to that Luxio that we brought in? He was part of another project you ran, wasn't he?"

"Yes, he was. Unfortunately, he hasn't gone through the reversal process yet. Since the Mew came, I hadn't been able to finish some of the other projects I have. Why do you ask?"

"I was just curious. So what else is happening, Doc?"

 **Caleb's POV**

We made it home about two days after Katlyn and the others left. Devin and Emily were stuck with us so they came along as well. It made things a bit more bearable, but not by much.

My parents were constantly coddling me, which was just embarrassing. The only time that I wasn't coddled was when Maggie, Devin, and Emily were watching me. Luckily for me, that wasn't a rare occasion. My parents couldn't just take me places. They knew everyone on this side of Saffron. They had a strict routine. If it was interrupted, people would begin asking questions. Today was one of those days. Mom had to go to the doctor's office for an appointment and my dad had to work.

" _I hate this can we watch something?"_ I asked as Maggie walked into the living room.

Maggie basically transmitted everything I think whenever my parents aren't home. My parents told her not to do it when they are home because they often bring home visitors. Although, I think it is because they like that I have an on and off switch.

" _What would you like to watch?"_ Maggie asked. Devin looked up from his phone and Emily put down a book she was reading on the couch.

"I guess we can watch something. Go pick something out. _"_ Devin said as he looked back at his phone.

" _Alright, let me just use my psychic abilities to bring the movie to me."_ I replied sarcastically.

"Look, you are about seven or eight months. You should be able to crawl by yourself. _"_ Emily said matter-of-factually.

" _You people are heartless, you know that"_ I shot back.

" _They do have a point Caleb. Even though you can't walk yet, doesn't mean that you can't still get around." Maggie agreed._

" _This isn't fair."_ I whined.

After much effort, I made it to the TV cabinet. Emily and Devin congratulated me while Maggie just smiled. I personally felt humiliated but I pushed that to the side before it got to me.

Our TV cabinet was set up with two bottom shelves that held most of our movies. The large flat screen TV sat on top along with our DVD player. I looked at all of the movies on the bottom self. I skimmed the movies before picking one. That was when I ran into another snag. I couldn't pull it out.

" _Maggie? Could you help me get this?"_ I asked.

" _What movie did you pick?"_ she asked as she came over to me. I pointed at it and she gave me a stunned look. _"The Alien? I'm not sure that is such a good idea."_ Maggie said.

" _Oh, come on! It's not like I haven't seen it before. Heck! I watched it when I was_ _a little kid_ _!"_ I exclaimed. _"The first time."_

"I think it is ok. I mean, he has seen it before." Devin vouched.

" _Thank you!"_

"Are you sure that is a good idea?" Emily asked worriedly.

" _I guess but if your mother disapproves then I will pretend that I didn't know anything about it"_ Maggie sighed.

 **Sam's POV**

Basil had a large grin on his face as he constricted the Lucario. It was somewhat disturbing to watch and I nearly turned away; as a trainer, I forced myself to watch. Seconds later, Elweard went limp. Basil let go and the Lucario fell to the ground. The match was over. We had won. I turned and stared at Katlyn who was waiting the fifteen second minimum before calling the match.

"Elweard, cut it out before they call the match." Austin yelled. I spun around outraged

"Are you for real? He is out cold and you have to talk to him that… that flippantly? _"_ I asked incredulously. Austin only laughed, fueling my anger.

"Alright Elweard, use Hyper Beam." Austin fruitlessly ordered, or so I thought. Elweard's body disappeared from the ground, replaced by a punching bag from the side closet of the training area! Basil reeled back from the disappearance and looked to me for help. The problem was that I had nothing to give him! The real Elweard was nowhere to be seen!

"Basilisk! Use Earthquake! Try to shake him up!" I yelled. Basil began to fill with energy, but before he could shove it into the ground, an enormous beam of energy shot from the other side of the room. Basil was hit square in the chest. The snake fell to the ground writhing in pain.

"Basil! Get up!" I cried as Austin ordered his Flash Speed combo. Elweard disappeared and Basil struggled to get up. A second later, there was a silvery flash as a beam of energy shot directly into Basil's gut. He didn't even try to get back up.

"Basil is unable to battle! The winner is Austin!" Katlyn yelled. I stared at the battlefield in shock. I had lost and I lost badly.

 **Austin's POV**

"How did you do that?" Sam yelled angrily.

We were in the lobby now, getting our Pokémon healed. Sam had stalked over from the front desk and stood in front of me. He glanced over me suspiciously.

"There is no way that Elweard could have stayed awake! He passed out! Basil should have beaten him!"

"It was called a Substitute. He wasn't what Basil was squeezing." I replied airily.

"I know what Substitute is! It is just impossible for you to have used it! You never gave an order for him to use that move!" Sam accused.

I don't know why, but I felt that I needed to fuel the flames. I smirked then said, "Sammy, Sammy, Sammy, you just weren't concentrating enough. You did a good job, but you weren't good enough."

I hit the nail on the head as Sam tried to take a swing at me. I barely managed to duck even though I knew it would be coming. He was about to try again, but was stopped by Katlyn.

"Austin, you better shut up before I put you into a world of hurt! That was uncalled for and I expect you to apologize!"

"He accused me of cheating!" I replied indignantly.

"You did cheat!" Katlyn yelled.

"How did I cheat?" I asked hotly.

"When you released Elweard, I saw him create the Substitute before the light faded. I thought, at first, that I was seeing things but then Elweard magically came back."

"Ok? So? There isn't a rule that says that we can't use moves just as we start the battle."

"Actually, there is. The rules state that the battle does not officially begin until I give the go ahead. That means when both Pokémon are out and I start the second part of the match. My dad is a referee, remember? I know these things." Katlyn replied coolly.

"Oh…" I replied guiltily. By now, Sam had cooled off some. I was glad because the guy was actually pretty fast with his punches and I really didn't want to try to dodge them.

"So… out of curiosity, how many trainers did you beat like that?" Sam asked.

"Um, just about all of them? I think? It was a good way to guarantee victory. I didn't think that it was against the rules or anything." I admitted.

"As long as you don't do it in the tournament tomorrow, we should be fine. If they catch you cheating, they could have grounds to suspend your trainers ID." Katlyn said.

"That's nice to know..." I muttered.

 **Sam's POV**

The next day was a real hassle. We had to rush to the recreation center, get our match numbers, and run down our strategies all before nine o'clock.

Austin, Katlyn, and I found a nice private area for us to go over strategy. That was an extra relief for me since I was still somewhat hesitant on letting MK be seen in public. MK, however, was excited. He zipped around the small room we commandeered. His excitement was beginning to worry me, but I just marked it down as nerves. I was so nervous, that I had completely zoned out. I looked around the room trying to shake off my nerves, but nothing I did seemed to work.

"Sam? Are you listening to me?" Katlyn asked, snapping me back into reality.

"Sorry… my mind was on something else." I apologized.

"It's alright." Katlyn said. "All I was saying was that it looks like we are all in different brackets. I am in the fourth division, Austin is in the first division, and you are in the third division.

"That worked out I guess." I replied, slightly relieved. "I guess that means that we have a good chance of at least one of us making it to the finals."

"True." Austin shrugged.

"Hey, even if we don't get any cash, that Porygon must be worth something. We could sell it to buy the tickets!" I said.

"Exactly. Let's get going guys, the tournament will be starting in fifteen minutes and I don't want to be scrambling for seats in the contestant waiting room." Katlyn said dismissively. I chuckled a little and we headed to the trainer waiting area.

Fifteen minutes later and the tournament was under way. The outcome was less than dismal as only about one or two hundred people showed up. I sighed inwardly. I knew it wouldn't be that big, but this was a little ridiculous. There should have been double that number easily. I quickly shook off the uneasiness and concentrated on the upcoming event.

Luckily for us, there were only thirty-two trainers, including us. We were separated into four divisions each one consisting of eight trainers. That turned out to be a good thing since that meant we only had to win two matches to get to the finals. Unfortunately for me, I was the last match of the third division. I watched the first three with little interest. They had decent Pokémon, but they weren't all that awe-inspiring. The first match was between a guy with an Abra and a girl with Haunter. I couldn't tell you how surprised I was to see the girl win. The second match was between what looked like a beginning trainer, who had a Growlithe, and an old man with a Beedrill. It was a pretty close match, but in the end, the type advantage boosted the young trainer to victory. The last match before mine was between some girl, who looked like she was forced to live the fifties, and a girl that looked completely emo. The fifties girl used a Leafeon, which was interesting, while the other girl used a Gothorita. I had to roll my eyes at that one considering the obvious stereotype the girl had thought about. That match lasted the longest with the girl with the Leafeon beating the emo fan club. I had to say that I was happy with that outcome. If I won, I could definitely take out a Leafeon in one fell swoop.

My thoughts were interrupted by my name and number being called. I stood up and made my way to the arena. The arena was set up inside a small convention center. There were four battle areas, one for each division. The whole contest was set up so that the spectators could come and go freely between each match as they went on. I walked up to one of the refs at the fourth division battle area and introduced myself.

"Ok kid, we will be starting the match in five minutes. I need you to choose which Pokémon you are going to battle with and leave your others here."

"What? Why?" I asked as I unclipped a MK's new Pokéball. We figured that it would be best if his appearance was a surprise.

"It's the rules kid. I don't make them up. I just get paid to follow them. Have you decided which one you will start with?"

"Y-yeah, here you go." I said as I nervously gave him MK's Pokéball.

"Don't worry, you will get it back after the end of the match. We only do this to prevent trainers from using more than one Pokémon at a time. There were several last year that didn't follow the one-on-one rules." the ref explained before leaving the trainer box. I waited for the other trainer to come out. She eventually did. She was a small girl, that seemed to be fairly new to training Pokémon

"In the blue box, we have Samuel Mattlov. In the red box, we have Samantha La Forge. Let the battle begin!" the announcer said hurriedly.

"Basilisk!" I yelled throwing the Pokéball onto the battleground. The girl hesitantly followed suit. Basil, appeared rearing to fight. The girls Pokéball flashed and nearly caused me to pass out. A Slowpoke appeared laying down on the ground. Basil looked stunned. Anyone in their right mind would have found something better than a Slowpoke.

"Slowpoke, use confusion." the girl mumbled. The Slowpoke slowly turned its head towards Basil.

"Um Basil, maybe you should move to the left." I suggested not even sure this would count as a battle. Basil nodded slowly before slithering to his left. The Slowpoke slowly stood up, and turned to face Basil. Basil slowly moved to his left again and the Slowpoke followed.

"Basil use, um, Bite?" Basil picked up some speed and opened his jaws.

"Slowpoke! Use protect!" the girl yelled zealously. The order somewhat surprised me, but what surprised me more was that it actually worked. A spherical bubble formed and Basil bit into it. The bubble cracked but did not break. Basil jumped back and the bubble faded away. The success of the move caused the girl's confidence to soar.

"Slowpoke! Use Trick Room!" she yelled. The Slowpoke began to glow a bright pink and a sphere of transparent, pink energy began to form. The sphere expanded until it covered about ninety percent of the battlefield.

"Uh oh." I muttered.

"Slowpoke, use Psychic!"

The Pokémon's eyes glowed a bright blue. Basil was lifted into the air and then thrown across the field. The snake let out a vicious hiss and quickly got up from the ground.

"Basil! Use Bite!" I shouted from my side of the battlefield.

"Slowpoke, dodge!"

To my amazement, the Slowpoke ran to the left! Basil gave chase, but no matter how hard he slithered, he could not catch the Slowpoke.

"Basil! Toxic!" I ordered. Basilisk reared his head back then shot it forward, releasing a large amount of toxins in the process. The poisons fell directly in front of the Slowpoke. The Pokémon easily jumped over the toxins and continued to run.

"Slowpoke! Use Zen Headbutt!" the Slowpoke turned around and charged at Basil. Its head began to glow a sparkling pink.

"Basil, you have to dodge!" I yelled.

Basil did his best, but it didn't seem to matter. He was hit with the attack, sending him flying out of the Trick Room's range. I was about to order for Basil to rush back in but then it occurred to me how stupid that would have been.

"Basil, stay there and start using Stockpile!"

Basil nodded and began to glow with energy. He quickly went through two Stockpiles before the girl and her Slowpoke decided to stop him.

"Slowpoke! Use Psychic!"

"Basil! Use Dark Pulse!"

Basil unleashed a torrent of dark energy. The energy traveled towards the Slowpoke with amazing speed. The eyes of the Slowpoke turned a sickly blue. Normally, you wouldn't be able to see moves like psychic, but the Dark energy of the Dark Pulse caused the invisible energy to become visible. The two pulses of energy clashed for several seconds. The Dark Pulse easily overpowered the Psychic and surged toward the Slowpoke.

"Slowpoke! Use protect!"

A bluish pink bubble formed around the Pokémon just as the Dark Pulse hit. Some of the energy managed to get inside but not enough to cause any major damage. The rest danced harmlessly around the bubble.

"Basil! Keep up the pressure! Keep using Dark Pulse!" I shouted.

Dark Pulse after Dark Pulse blasted away at the Slowpoke. The Protect it was using was cracking and chipping after each subsequent hit. Soon, the Protect failed. The glass-like shield shattered as the last rock pelted it. Still, not enough energy had actually hit the Slowpoke to cause any damage.

"Slowpoke! Use Psyshock!"

The slowpoke, still under the influence of Trick Room, responded quickly. Its eyes glowed a deep blue and silvery balls of psychic energy appeared out of thin air. The balls surrounded Basil for a couple of seconds before shooting toward the snake. They hit and knocked Basil to the ground. Basil was protected from most of the damage because of his Stockpile; he slowly got up and prepared for our next move.

"Basil, use your Crunch attack." I said quietly.

Basil charged at the Slowpoke. The Trick Room began to wear off, adding to my advantage. Basil closed the distance and bit down hard on the Slowpoke's side. The Dopey Pokémon waited for several minutes before the pain finally registered. It passed out and I was declared the winner of the match.

 **Katlyn's POV**

"After a year at a Team Rocket base, I thought I had seen everything, but I have never seen anyone nearly get beat by a Slowpoke." I declared as soon as Sam got back from his fight.

"Shut up. You would have underestimated it too if it had been you out there." he growled, sitting down to the right of me.

"No, I would have started off with the Dark Pulse and been done with it." I replied airily. Sam shot me a glare then looked out into the battlefields.

Austin had just finished his match and was heading toward us. He was pitted up against a man with a Beautifly. Lawrence, being a fire type, easily defeated the bug type.

"So how did y'all do?" Austin asked sitting down on my left.

"Ember demolished the Serviper we faced and Sam barely beat a Slowpoke." I answered before Sam could say anything.

Austin broke out into a grin a shot a look at Sam. "Man Sam, did you seriously almost get beat by a Slowpoke?"

"It used Trick Room! I couldn't keep up with the stupid thing!" Sam exclaimed.

"You couldn't keep up with it? Did you here that? He was slower than a Slowpoke!" Austin cackled.

"I hate you, I hate you both." Sam grumbled. I laughed lightly then stopped. A memory bubbled to the front of my mind. My eyes began to water slightly…

 **Flashback**

"So I go up to the guy and said "hey, you are in my chair." He turned to me and looked me dead in the eye and said, "You should get lost kid, you don't even look old enough to drink yet." It was challenge if I had ever heard one. Anyways, I call the bartender over and he tells him that I was sitting there before he came in. He laughed and shoved me to the ground. Me being the sensible kind of guy I am, brushed myself off and explained to him as kindly as possible how I was going plant my foot directly between his prostate and colon." Jeff, a tall, darkly tanned man in civilian garb, rambled on as we sat in an old fifties style diner. I had quickly made a few acquaintances after about a month. Soon, I had a small group of friends that seemed to not like Team Rocket.

"How did he take that?" asked Lauren, a petite, young woman.

"He got up from his seat and leered at me. The guy was obviously trying size me up. He smiled this ugly toothy grin and took a swing at me. I was leaning against the counter at the time and the bartender was directly behind me. I ducked and the guy, who was half drunk, smacked the bartender in the jaw! Now, it is ok to start fights in a bar as long as you don't do one simple thing." Jeff trailed off, obviously trying to get one of us to ask him what it was. I gave in and asked the question.

"And what would that one rule be?"

"Well, dear Kelly, that rule is to never hit the guy getting you drunk with beer. The guy crumpled to the floor for a couple of seconds before springing into a full on tackle! The two guys were rolling around on the floor for several minutes before the bartender had knocked the guy out. He and a couple of other guys stripped him down to his skivvies, which wasn't much more than a loin cloth and strapped him to a flag pole outside with a sign saying 'Nobody hits the tender!' in large, neon red letters!"

"And, nobody called the cops to stop this from happening?" I asked suspiciously.

"Of course not, the cops were off duty having beers! They helped put the guy on the flag pole! Nobody, not even the cops will mess with the bartender. It also helped that the bartender was a former police chief." Jeff laughed as did Lauren and I.

"I have a story like that." Lauren declared.

"Yeah right. The funniest thing that ever happened to you is that time we were after that rare Pokémon which turned out to be a Magikarp painted bright green." Jeff laughed.

"Oh, yeah that was priceless! "I saw it! I saw it! It was the most majestic thing I have ever seen!" I imitated. Jeff and I broke up into laughter as Lauren's face turned red. The laughter died quickly. The sound of sirens and shouting broke our jovial mood.

"This is the Viridian Police! The building is surrounded! Come out with your hands up!"

"Crap!" Jeff muttered as he reached into his sweat jacket and pulled out a handgun. He checked it and looked at us.

"I left mine back at base." I whispered Lauren nodding the same.

"Well ladies, I guess I will be the knight in shining armor and save you two damsels from the clutches of those guards of darkness."

"Shining armor nothing. You would be better as the Black Knight." Lauren snorted as we prepared to make a run for the back door. Jeff took the rear as we ran and gave cover fire for us as we burst through the back door. Lauren and I made it to the alley and easily escaped the cops. I looked back in the direction we had come from. Jeff was nowhere to be seen.

"Come on, I am sure he is fine. Let's head to the rendezvous point and see if he made it." I nodded and we quickly left.

We made it to the rendezvous point and found out that the cops had killed Jeff from a news bulletin nearby. He was the first friend I had lost and it hurt me greatly. I cried that night. It was not the first time, and it definitely won't be the last.

 **Present**

"Katlyn? Katlyn? Earth to Katlyn!" Sam shouted. I snapped back to reality and looked around. Sam and Austin looked at me uneasily.

"Are you ok?" Austin asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I muttered.

"Alright then." Austin replied while standing up. "My match is about to start so y'all better be rooting for me."

"What are you talking about? Of course we will be rooting for you!" Sam said slightly on the annoyed side.

"I know I was just messing with you guys." Austin chuckled, leaving for his next match.

 **Caleb's POV**

The movie was over and we all decided to put in the sequels. My parents seemed to be out late so I enjoyed being able to talk with everyone a little more. Devin and Emily seemed fascinated with the movie's effects although, they did say that their version of the Alien didn't have Pokémon so it was understandable. About ten minutes into one of the sequels, I admit that I fell asleep. I didn't wake up until I heard the front door open and shut. I didn't think much about it until I realized that the movie was still playing. Before I could say anything about the movie, my dad was in the room.

"What are you three watching?" my dad asked in an irate tone.

"Um… Alien vs. Predator?" Devin replied unsure.

"Uh huh, and don't you think that you shouldn't be watching something that gory? Especially in front of my son?" Dad replied.

"It was his idea. He chose the first movie!" Emily exclaimed, trying to redirect the fire.

" _Thanks guys! Way to throw me under the bus!"_ I shouted in my mind.

"Caleb? You picked this?" Dad asked incredulously.

" _Um, yeah? It's not like I haven't seen it like a million times."_

"I… well, I don't really know what to say." Dad stammered. "For now on, you guys need to run a movie by me. That means no rated R movies when either me or Mrs. Ward are gone. Do you understand me?"

"Yes sir…" Emily and Devin mumbled.

"Now Caleb, it is time for you to take a nap, lord only knows how many nightmares you will have if you don't go have one now."

" _Dad!"_ I whined.

"Maggie, stop it." Dad commanded. I began shouting in my mind but he wasn't hearing any of it. Dad smiled then said, "it's nice to have an on and off switched."

'I hate you, you know that? This is ridiculous.' I thought as I was carried away.

* * *

I hope y'all liked this chapter, and now I have a serious question for you. How many of you have been playing Pokémon Go? Lol, I have been playing it casually. Like maybe ten minutes a day. I was just wondering. I felt that Caleb and Charlie needed to make at least a small appearance here and there so we will be seeing them fairly often throughout the next couple of chapters. If you guys have anything to say about the story, be sure to leave a review. Also, if you are enjoying it be sure to smash that favorite/follow button! This is shieldliger001 signing off!


	45. Chapter 45

Hey guys, so I am very happy about this chapter. I Actually had to stop myself because was going to finish the tournament in this chapter. Alas, it wasn't meant to be. Actually, it would have made the chapter way too long and would probably interrupt the flow of the chapter. Anyways, enough of my blabbering and onto the reviews!

Monpoke: Lucario is pretty overpowered in my opinion. That is why I wrote Austin's battle the way I did in this chapter. I wanted Austin to seem presumptuous because he thinks knows a lot about Pokémon. If he thinks he knows a lot then he becomes rather big headed. You have to keep in mind that Austin and Emily are also a lot younger then they are supposed to be. So Devin probably wouldn't be as willing to identify with Caleb since weirdness has become quite common. As always thanks for reviewing my friend.

Caitou zzzzzz: I am glad you liked the chapter. Katlyn technically isn't cursed anymore. All the Banette did was give her a partial curse which shrunk her, but is letting her grow naturally. I really couldn't resist the whole movie thing. I thought that it would be one of those impossible situations for Caleb's dad. If he just let him watch it he would get mauled by his wife. If he didn't let Caleb watch it, like he chose, then Caleb would be out for revenge later. I'd say he just picked the lesser of two evils. Lol.

* * *

 **A good leader can engage in a debate frankly and thoroughly, knowing that at the end he and the other side must be closer, and thus emerge stronger. You don't have that idea when you are arrogant, superficial, and uninformed.**

 **Nelson Mandela**

 **Chapter 45**

 **Katlyn's POV**

"Jack, use Thunder Wave." I muttered. I was beyond depressed. The battles were losing their excitement and it was boring.

Jack let loose a weak shock and the Poliwrath froze in his tracks. Normally, Poliwrath would be more than enough to take care of a Pichu, but experience always beats strength. Spending a year with Team Rocket gave me and Jack more than enough experience.

"Use Toxic, then use Sweet Kiss." Jack obeyed and let the Poliwrath soak in a puddle of toxic sludge. He then ran up to him and planted a kiss right in between the Poliwrath's eyes. The pitifully trained Poliwrath stumbled around weakly.

"Poliwrath! No!" the other trainer yelled. I sighed and watched Jack's handiwork. A few seconds later, and it collapsed on the ground. Jack warily approached the Poliwrath. It seemed that it was done for.

"Jack, Thunder Punch." I ordered, acting on a hunch. Jack waited a second and sure enough the Poliwrath, feebly lunged at the Pichu. Jack was ready with a fist full of electricity. He ducked in low and jabbed the Poliwrath in the gut. The electricity arced all over the water type before dissipating into the ground. The Poliwrath fell over. This time, it was truly defeated.

"The winner is Katlyn and Jack! Congratulations! You will be moving onto the semi-finals!" the referee called I gave a quick smile for looks then retreated into the waiting room.

"That was some fight, Katlyn." Austin remarked with a slight whistle.

"Yeah, I guess that guy won't be saying anything bad about size again, he lost like he went up against Arceus or something!" another trainer said.

"Thanks, it was nothing. Jack is just experienced, that Is all." I replied to the trainer and a small group of other trainers.

"It looks like Sam is about to start in his quarter finals match." Austin said as he looked out into the arena.

"He is just starting?" I asked in disbelief.

"Yep, the match before was extremely long. It finished a little before yours did." Austin replied.

"Was it that intense?"

"No, it was a Metapod fighting a Magikarp."

"Let me guess, it ended in a draw." I guessed.

"No, the Magikarp knew tackle and it eventually whittled down the Metapod." Austin corrected.

"Huh, that must have been pretty boring."

"Yep. Hey, Sam's battle is starting!" Austin shouted enthusiastically.

 **Sam's POV**

"Trainers, release your Pokémon!"

I was breathing rapidly. I was using MK for the first time in the tournament and I was worried of what could happen. I slowly grabbed his Pokéball and pulled it from my belt. The other trainer was already tossing his Pokéball. It seemed like slow motion. It flew up into the air then slowly descended down to earth. It was that moment that I tossed MK's Pokéball. The ball spun slowly through the air before land on the ground and releasing its occupant. The other trainer's Pokémon appeared a few seconds before MK did. The light cleared the battlefield, leaving behind a tall, humanoid figure. It was green all over and had a very creepy grin. I could barely make out the wicked looking spines that dotted the Pokémon's body. The creepiest aspect were the eyes. Yellow and glowing, they held a very sinister glare in them. The "hat" seemed to make the eyes that much creepier as it seemed to cover everything but the eyes. Those that were watching seemed to whisper between themselves, obviously surprised to see such a rare and unnerving Pokémon. I allowed myself to smile slightly. If they were shocked by a Cacturne, then they were going to be skyrocketing to Mars when they saw MK.

MK's Pokéball released him. Just as I predicted, the people were jumping out of their seats. Shock and awe filled the audience as MK floated mere inches off the ground. Looking back from the audience to my opponent, I was delighted to see that both the Cacturne and his trainer had the same awed expressions.

"Um, uh, trainers… you may, uh, begin!" the referee stammered. My opponent didn't move an inch, neither did his Cacturne.

"MK, use our Icy Poison combo!" I ordered trying to do some damage before the Cacturne and his trainer snapped out of their trances.

MK rushed forward, fangs covered in a light purple ice. The Cacturne could barely blink before MK sank his small fangs into the scarecrow's neck. Ice spread all over the left side of the Cacturne's neck. With the move successfully hitting its target, MK quickly backed away.

The Cacturne almost instantly fell to one knee. The attack seemed to do more damage than I originally thought it would. That was a nice surprise and meant that I could hurry up and finish up the battle.

"Ok, now use Ice Fang!"I yelled, feeling rather cocky.

"Cacturne, use Sucker Punch!" the other trainer ordered. Before MK could respond, the Cacturne seemed to flash forward. Its fist was covered in a dark, pulsing energy. The fist smashed into MK's gut. The force of the hit, caused a mild explosion, sending the little Mew flying backwards. MK managed to recover and continued to use Ice Fang. He bit down on the same fist that was used to punch him seconds earlier. Ice covered the arm, making it almost useless. The Cacturne was obviously in pain, but it had not uttered a single sound.

"Use, Payback." the other trainer ordered. The Cacturne smirked slightly as he quickly punched MK. He followed it up with another punch with the ice covered fist. The second punch sent MK back about a foot as well as shattering the ice. The Cacturne took another shot and another until MK was sent to the ground.

"Crap… MK get up fast!" I yelled my cockiness completely expelled from my being. MK clumsily floated back into the air. He was hurt in several places and it surprised me that he could still move. "Good, use Double Team!"

Clones of MK shot out into every direction. They flitted around the battlefield until I lost track of the real MK. The other trainer and the Cacturne also seemed to lose track of the little fur ball as well.

"Alright now use Poison Fang!" I yelled.

All of the MK clones flew at the Cacturne. Their fangs glowed a deep purple. Just as they were about to hit the Cacturne shot once more to one knee.

"Crap the poison..." I barely heard the other trainer mutter. "Cacturne, use Spiky Shield!"

Roots and thistles shot out of the ground in an instant. They covered the kneeling Cacturne just as the clones hit. One by one, the clones vanished as if they never existed. MK was the last to hit. The thistles tangled him up and stabbed him with the thorns.

"Ok, Cacturne, finish things up with Feint Attack!"

The thorns quickly disappeared as did the Cacturne. MK looked around frantically, but couldn't find a single hint as to where the Cacturne could have gone. Out of the top of my eyes, I saw the a whisper of a shadow!

"MK looked up!" I yelled out of panic. It was to late. The Cacturne hammered MK with a large spiked arm, covered in dark energy. MK rocketed into the ground. The ground cratered with MK in the center of it. Fifteen seconds past. MK didn't get up.

"MK has been defeated! The winner is O'Malley of the Orange Islands!" the referee yelled. I slowly walked over to MK and picked him up. I returned to the waiting room in shame.

 **Katlyn's POV**

"Are you alright?" I asked softly as Sam sat down.

To say that he was upset, was an understatement. He was staring at his feet for several moments. He readjusted his arms, still carrying the young Mew that fought so hard. He clung to the creature with all his might.

"Sam? Hey, say something." I almost demanded. I saw a glimmer of an unshed tear in one of his eyes.

"Samuel Mattlov?" I turned quickly to see the older trainer and Cacturne he had been battling. He seemed to be about fifteen or sixteen. Sam looked up at the older boy with a mix of disbelief and self-pity.

"You were the one that he battled. Congratulations on winning. Now go away." I said tersely.

"I'm sorry if I am being a bother. You see, I just wanted to say that I enjoyed the battle."

I was about to say something, something I would probably regret later, but Sam stopped me with a hand on my shoulder.

"It's ok Katlyn, you don't need to defend me. I can handle it. After all, it wouldn't be good sportsmanship if I made him leave." Sam said with a sad smile.

"Alright, but he better not make fun of you. If he does, I will send him into a world of hurt." I replied.

"You were a very interesting opponent. I would never have dreamed that I would have the honor to fight a Mew.

Even if he is somewhat young." O'Malley said.

"It wasn't much of a fight. You beat MK pretty easily."

"You didn't do as bad as you think. In fact, the poison that you injected into Cacturne here, nearly caused him to pass out. The only reason he didn't was because he ate one of these." O'Malley tossed Sam a small green berry. It was a Lum berry.

"That's why the poison didn't work. He wasn't poisoned long enough to knock him out." Sam muttered.

"I always give my Pokémon one of these. It helps with a lot of my strategies. Anyways, I want you to have that, and I want you to have these as well." O'Malley pulled out a strange, yellow diamond and a small chain with a small pink slab on the end of it. "Use this to get MK to wake up. He won't be feeling the best but it should heal most of his injuries. As for the necklace, it is something that I found couple of years back in an old cave. There is an inscription in Unown that reads, "Three beings were born to bind time and space." It is part of an old Sinnoh legend that tells how Pokémon were created. The plate, the Mind Plate, represents the legendaries of the lakes. Each of them are psychic types. It is said that this plate will boost psychic abilities. I never had a psychic type to test this so I thought that you should have it. Especially since you were chosen to have a Mew." O'Malley explained.

"Thanks, I promise that MK and I will become stronger, and one day, if we meet again, we will beat you." Sam said with new found strength.

O'Malley smiled. "I can't wait. For now though, I better get ready for the next match. I am supposed to be going against your little sister in the semi-finals."

"I am not his sister!" I yelled as I kicked him in the shin.

"Ok, ok! I didn't mean to offend. It just seemed like you were because you were all protective of him. I am sorry." O'Malley apologized, rubbing his shin. Sam and I laughed. I was just happy that Sam was feeling better.

 **Austin's POV**

"Hey Katlyn, I heard about Sam. Where is he?" I asked as I caught up with the spitfire seven year old.

"Since he lost his match, he had to go sit in the stands. He has his phone on him so he said he would call us when the tourney is over." she replied just barely glancing at me.

"How bad was the damage?"

"I wish I could say that it was a close match, but it wasn't. He started out strong but he got cocky and careless. He thought that his strategy was solid and he found out the hard way that his foundation was built on sand."

"Anymore details?" I asked not satisfied with her answer.

"Look, he underestimated his opponent. When he realized that he needed more than quick attacks and super-effective moves, it was too late. Now, let's get over to the semi-finals meeting and get this over with. We both have to try extra hard. If we both lose, we would have wasted the entire day. We have to win if we want those tickets."

"Sheesh, talk about a slave driver." I muttered as we headed to the meeting.

 **Caleb's POV**

I woke up in my room. I looked around tiredly trying to get some recollection of what had happened. It all quickly came back to me making me want groan.

'That's right, Dad overreacted and put in that stupid pack-n-play.' I thought.

Looking around I didn't find a single thing that I could do. The only thing around me was a small blanket. I guess normally, that is all I would need. I stood up, grabbing onto the side of my prison for support. Then an idea popped into my head. I would climb out. I remembered hearing stories of me being quite the acrobat the first time around so I figured that I could definitely be one again.

I started by pushing my feet into the mesh netting while pushing my body up. This was no simple task and I slid down several times before I was able to push myself high enough to begin my climb down. As soon as I reached the top I clumsily lifted my leg of the top and let it fall over. I then proceeded with my other leg. Then it occurred to me. Getting over wasn't the hard part. Getting down without hurting myself was. I looked around nervously. There was nobody in the room and I was dangling on the outside of the pack-n-play. To my relief, the door opened just a smidge. Then it opened wider, allowing me to see Maggie walking into the room.

"Caleb! What are you doing? _"_ Maggie yelled as she rushed over to me.

" _Oh, you know, just hanging around."_ I said nervously. _"Um, could you help me down?"_

"Caleb Ward, you are going to be the death of me and your parents. First you get turned into a Pokémon then into a baby and now you think you are an acrobat. _"_ Maggie sighed as picked me up using Psychic.

" _I'm sorry if I am such a hassle. It's not like I wanted any of this to happen."_ I replied angrily.

"I know that. I didn't mean to sound like that. You just worry your parents and myself. _"_

" _Speaking of my parents, where are they?"_ I asked.

"They had to meet up with the police about Katlyn. The cops still think she is missing, so your parents had to go and talk with them to see how the "investigation" is going. _"_

" _I hate this. I just can't do anything aside from sitting around watching everyone else do stuff."_

"I have an idea, if you want to try it. You won't be able to do it when your parents are home but I don't see why I can't help you out when they aren't here. _"_ Maggie said with a gleam in her eye.

" _What is it?"_ I asked getting excited.

"Well, remember that time you tried catching Lawrence in that Pokéball? _"_

 **Katlyn's POV**

"Trainers, congratulations on making it this far in the tournament. Now that you are in the semi-finals, the rules will be changing slightly. You all will be allowed to use two Pokémon for the next battle. IF you have more than two you must leave the others with the referee at the beginning of the battle. You should already know this, but I will go ahead and explain it anyways. You will be battling at different times unlike earlier. Austin Lee and Paula Stein will be the first match. You both will battle shortly after this meeting. Katlyn Ward and O'Malley Springer will be the second match. Your match will commence after a fifteen minute break after Lee and Stein conclude their battle. Does everyone understand?" the event manager explained. All four of us nodded and retreated to the waiting area.

"So, are you nervous?" I asked.

"Meh, not really. After all, I have Elweard and Lawrence to back me up. What about you?"

"Jack and I have fought together for over a year. I know that, to you, it has only been a couple of days, but I don't think Jack will let me down. I haven't decided if I will have Zan or Ember fight yet. I'll figure that out when you are battling." I replied.

"Well, wish me luck." Austin said, running off to the battlefield.

 **Austin's POV**

I quickly threw Lawrence's Pokéball onto the battlefield as soon as the battle started. I was hoping that we would get a head start on our opponent and be able to set up a few safeguards. The problem was, that I had to wait for this Paula Stein character to send out her Pokémon before I could do anything. The girl I was fighting was in no big hurry. She lightly tossed her Pokéball onto the battlefield. The ball landed in a spectacular display of lights. It almost felt like I was watching fireworks.

'Must have some seals on that.' I thought as the Pokémon took form.

When the light faded, a Sawk stood tall hopping back and forth with his fists raised in a fighting position. The girl nodded to me, allowing me to make the first move. I nodded her my thanks and quickly came up with a good strategy.

"Lawrence, use Power Swap!" I yelled. Lawrence looked at me for a second out of bewilderment. I knew he knew the move because the Pokédex said as much.

Lawrence began to glow a bright purple before a beam shot from Lawrence. It struck the Sawk who also began to glow. Then, a returning beam shot from the Sawk and hit Lawrence. The move completed when the glowing faded. I studied Lawrence for a second and noticed that he seemed slightly larger and that he seemed to have more muscle. The Sawk seemed slightly less muscular and little more on the stick side of things.

With the Sawk's main advantage out of the way, I proceeded with the second part of my plan. "Lawrence, use Confuse Ray!"

Lawrence opened his mouth and shot a ball of pulsing light at the Sawk. The other trainer realized what was happening and told the Sawk to dodge. Though I had acted first, Lawrence still had the disadvantage of being a little slower. The Sawk easily sidestepped the Confuse Ray and stood in a back stance. It raised its front arm and waved for Lawrence to come at him.

'Geez, we have a regular Mr. Anderson over here.' I thought sarcastically.

"Sawk, get in close and nail him with a Karate Chop!" the trainer yelled.

The Sawk rushed in, then dove at Lawrence. He raised one arm, palm open, and slashed down at Lawrence. The move hit, but not with nearly the same amount of force had I not used Power Swap. It still sent Lawrence to the ground, allowing the Sawk to back away. Lawrence let out small gasp as he got up. He didn't seem like he was hurt hardly at all.

"Lawrence, Tail Whip!"

Lawrence rushed toward the Sawk smacked with his tails, stunning the Sawk for a moment. The other trainer quickly retaliated with another Karate Chop, but caused very little damage.

"Lawrence, again!"

"Sawk, dodge and use Low Sweep!" There was a hint of coldness in the trainer's voice, but I paid no attention to it.

Lawrence twisted in order to hit the Sawk, but the Sawk was no longer there. When he landed on the ground the Sawk dropped to the ground and swiped his legs at Lawrence's while using his arm to pivot. I yelled for Lawrence to jump which he managed to do spectacularly. I was happy to see that Lawrence was holding up good, but I needed to end this before the Power Swap expired. I really needed to get a few hits on the Sawk.

"Quick Attack!" I yelled. I knew that it wouldn't do much, but I needed at least on hit to gauge how much damage Lawrence could do at the moment.

Lawrence shot at the Sawk. As he ran, a silvery light flashed as he hit the speed he needed. He leaped at the Sawk.

"Sawk, Quick Guard!" the trainer ordered, the coldness growing.

The Sawk stepped to the side and redirected the speeding fox. The Quick Attack missed.

Lawrence caught himself before he hit the ground and managed to land without to much injury. By now, I was grinding my teeth. I hadn't hit the Sawk at all.

"Lawrence, Quick Attack again!" I yelled.

Lawrence shot me an 'are you crazy?' look, but obeyed. He raced across the field. I waited for just the right moment. As soon as Lawrence was within three feet, I gave my order.

"Lawrence! Stop! Use Confuse Ray!" I shouted.

Lawrence slid to stop inches away from the Sawk and fired the Confuse Ray. It was to late for the Sawk to dodge it. It hit the Sawk who was almost instantly confused.

"Alright, Lawrence, use Tail Whip twice then use Will-O-Wisp!"

Lawrence slapped the Sawk with two consecutive hits then shot several dark orbs of fire at the Sawk. The orbs erupted into dark flames all over the Sawk's body.

"Now for the grand finale! Lawrence, use Flame Charge, then add a Fire Fang!" I yelled.

Lawrence, covered in flames, charged at the Sawk. The Pokémon was still bumbling about, too confused to notice that it was on much less that there was a charging fireball nearing him.

"Sawk, use Earthquake!" Paula yelled.

The Sawk shook its confusion long enough to use the move. His fist glowed a deep blue just before punching the ground.

"Lawrence jump!"

The ground shook terrible. Dirt and rocks were sent into the air. It was so dusty that I lost track of Lawrence. When the dust cleared. Lawrence was standing in the middle of the battlefield, panting. He looked at me then restarted his charge

The Vulpix tackled the Sawk with the Flame Charge then ran back around and bit down on its neck with fiery jaws. When the flames and smoke died down, the Sawk was on the ground, unconscious.

"Sawk is unable to battle! Trainer, please send out your next Pokémon." the referee called. Paula returned the Sawk the grabbed her second Pokéball, muttering something angrily the entire time.

I decided to switch Pokémon as well and returned Lawrence. I quickly twisted the knob on Elweard's ball then let it open. Light spilled out like water then formed into my friend.

Paula looked at the Lucario with little interest then sent out her Pokémon. It was a Victreebel. The Pitcher Plant Pokémon wobbled back and forth. It looked truly monstrous, and ready to devour Elweard.

"Ok, El. Be careful. This thing doesn't have any type advantages, but its acid is known to melt iron." I warned.

" _It is alright, Master. I will have the utmost caution."_ Elweard replied.

"Alright start things off with an Aura Sphere!" I yelled.

Elweard pulled his arms to his left side and let a ball of blue energy form. He quickly thrust his hands forward, launching the ball at high speed. The Victreebel continued its bobbing without any worry.

"Victreebel, use Leaf Storm!"

The Victreebel shook violently as leaves began to viciously fly around. The wind in the room seemed to explode as the leaves were whipped back and forth. They were shot at the incoming Aura Sphere and easily intercepted it. The two colliding moves moves resulted in a minor explosion send dust up in the air. It wasn't enough to blur our vision.

"Elweard, use Swagger!"

Elweard stared at the Victreebel. His eyes glowed a light red and became somewhat hypnotic. The Victreebel began to get visibly angry. Soon it was blinded by rage to the point that it couldn't even move straight.

 **Elweard's POV**

The adrenaline pumped through my veins as I finished my move. The Victreebel stood, quivering with anger. I chuckled to myself as I watched it. I knew exactly how to finish the creature, but I had to what for Master Austin. The Rules of Engagement, had to be followed. Soon, I heard my orders and acted. I charged at the creature with blinding speed. Balling up one paw into a fist, I rushed in until I could hammer the Victreebel in the body with a swift, Power-Up Punch. The Victreebel reeled over from the blow allowing me to retreat.

The Victreebel, by the trainer's orders, shot several vines at me. They snapped at me several times like whips. I managed to block most of them, but some hit and left several stinging bruises.

Austin ordered for me to use Bullet Punch. I began a second rush. A metallic sheen covered both fists as I ran. I ducked under several vines and unleashed storm of metallic punches. As I backed away, the Victreebel tried to counter with another Vine Whip, but missed due to its blind rage. Finally, Austin gave the order. One last time I rushed at the Victreebel, ready to put the nail into the coffin. My left fist became covered with a veil of ice. I then jumped as high as I could into the air to get the most damage I could out of my Ice Punch. I pulled my arm back then threw the punch as I descended. Then stopped. My punch just stopped. It was an inch from the Victreebel, but I couldn't move. I looked back to see a vine holding onto my legs. I looked back at the Victreebel to see that it had calmed down.

"Victreebel, swallow him." the girl muttered coldly.

"You can't do that! This is a battle! Not a fight to the death!" I heard Austin yell. The Victreebel lifted me over its mouth and let me dangle as the "lid" opened. It began to lower me into its mouth. A pang of panic shot through causing me to squirm as hard as I could. It was no use as the vine grew tighter around my legs.

"Elweard! Use your Double Flash Cannon fast!" Austin's voice cut through my panic and put me back into my calmed persona. I thrust my arms out in front of me and let the silvery energy flow down into my palms. By now, the Victreebel had my head and arms inside its large mouth. Not wanting to wait any longer, I released the energy in a brilliant display of red and silver. The Victreebel instantly let go causing me to fall further into the pitcher plant. The tips of my paw touched the acid at the bottom. It burned like someone had placed hellfire on them. I placed my paws on the walls of the pitch and managed to stop my descent. I felt something pulling on my legs and something else tugging on the outside of the pitcher plant. The pulling soon became very painful, but I noticed that I was leaving the pitcher plant. In seconds, I was free of that nightmare. I fell to the ground, breathing harshly.

 **Austin's POV**

"Elweard! Holy Crap, say something! You're ok, right?" I asked frantically. We had just barely managed to rescue the Lucario from the Victreebel. I was glad that I could make it in time to pull Elweard out. Several referees and myself had pulled the Victreebel and Lucario away from each other. Luckily for us, the Victreebel was unconscious from the Double Flash Cannon. Although I wouldn't have minded if it had killed right there. Call me cold if you want, but that's how I felt.

" _I am shaken, Master, but not stirred."_ Elweard said with a slight smirk, causing me to roll my eyes.

"You are seriously going to have to lay off on the movie references, or next time I might just have to let the over grown bowl of acid eat you." I warned playfully. "I am glad you are ok."

"We are definitely sorry about this, Son. We called the cops and they will be on their way to pick up Ms. Paula over there." one of the refs said as several others grabbed the trainer and hauled her away.

"I didn't even want that stupid loser anyways! I should have known that it was week!" the trainer yelled as she threw away the Victreebel's Pokéball. It bounced and rolled next to my foot.

" _Master, don't even think about it. It nearly ate me."_ Elweard groaned, obviously reading my mind.

"Would it be illegal if I claimed that Pokémon?" I asked.

"Well, she did just say she didn't want it, but I would ask the police first. They would know the answer to that. I don't see why you can't hold onto it until they arrive though." the referee replied with a wink. I smiled back and returned the Victreebel.

" _I can't believe you just did that, Austin."_ Elweard glared.

"Finally! You didn't call me Master!" I exclaimed. Elweard rolled his eyes.

" _I hope you know what you are doing."_

"Oh come on. You two will become friends." I replied smugly.

" _Yeah, right."_ Elweard growled lightly.

 **Caleb's POV**

"I can't believe I am saying this, but it actually feels great to be Pokémon again. I can actually walk around on my own and not have someone freaking out if I hiccup. _"_ I said cheerfully as I stretched. I was back to being a Vulpix, for a little while.

"Are you sure this was a good idea? I mean If his parents find out, won't they go ballistic?" Devin asked, worry etched into his face.

" _It will be fine. I can change him back in an instant if his parents get home. Besides, he needs to have a little freedom. I know that I would go insane if I was in Caleb's situation."_ Maggie replied.

"Ok, I hope you're right." Devin replied before walking off.

" _You get back here!"_ Maggie called as Devin left the room.

"What? He can run around now. What do you want me for?" Devin whined.

" _Since all you have done is play on that phone of yours, you should play with Caleb."_

"What? Why?" Devin asked.

" _Because he has been unable to do anything with anyone. Just have some fun."_

"But I like to play on my phone. There isn't anything else to do." Devin replied.

" _I can fix that."_ Maggie said with a mischievous smile.

"W-what do you plan on doing?" Devin asked nervously.

" _Don't worry. I know all about your time at the Pikachu colony."_ she said, swishing her tails over the boy. There was a bright light. Once it faded a Pichu stood where Devin was.

"Really? This was your grand idea? Do you know how long it took us to become human again? _"_ the Pichu asked angrily.

"Look, you don't have to worry about that. I can change you back whenever I want to. Just have some fun. And make sure Caleb doesn't do anything stupid. _"_ Maggie instructed.

"Why would I do anything stupid? _"_ I asked heatedly

"Because, I know you. You find trouble like a drunk finds a bar. _"_ Maggie replied. _"_ Now go have some fun you two. _"_

* * *

I hope y'all enjoyed the chapter. As I said before, I loved writing it. Ok, time for the bad news. I just don't have enough people voting on the polls to justify writing a story on the year at the rocket base. That doesn't mean I won't do it in the future, but I have other ideas that I think you guys would enjoy more. Anyways, if you have anything to say be sure to leave a review. If y'all are enjoying the story, be sure to smash that follow/favorite button. I would like to thank everyone that is following this story and has added it to their favorites. This is shieldliger001 signing off.


	46. Chapter 46

Hey guys! Shield here with another chapter! I am really happy with this one and I hope you all enjoy it! Now, onto the reviews!

Caitou zzzzzz: I felt sorry for Caleb and thought he needed a break. Ninetales are known to be somewhat vengeful and vengeance can lead to cruelty, so I figured that would kind of be ingrained into Maggie's personality. I just had to do that last battle. My family for some reason loves carnivorous plants, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity!

Rome1435: Thanks for reviewing. It is always nice to see new reviewers and I hope you continue to support the story! That is a very good question. One I may or may not answer in the next chapter.

AveragePichu: As always, thanks for catching the mistakes I missed. I am glad that you enjoyed the chapter. To answer your question, I don't know. I played Pokémon Mystery Dungeon a few times and I honestly prefer the regular Pokémon games. That doesn't mean I won't attempt a PMD story or a story similar to PMD, but I feel more comfortable writing stories with trainers in it. Also, PMD stories are almost as common as stories about OC trainers going around collecting badges. I feel that if I wrote a story for PMD, it would just sound similar to other stories in the archive.

Since Halloween is just around the corner, I really hope y'all enjoy this chapter!

* * *

 **The reason I watch horror movies, is not so I can get scared. Quite the opposite actually. I watch them so I can ask the question, 'why would they go in there, if they know it is haunted?' I would then explain what I would do. 'Have fun in the creepy house. I will be leaving now.'**

 **Anonymous**

* * *

 **Chapter 46**

 **Katlyn's POV**

I finally decided to go with Ember and Zan. I figured that their experience and age would be better suited for a trainer like O'Malley. I explained this to Jack, but he seemed to be upset with my decision. I realized that he had a lot of experience fighting as a Raichu, but that didn't account for much now that he was a Pichu again. Our last few battles had been somewhat less coordinated than they normally were and that was something we worked on in the earlier matches, but this match was too important to leave things to chance. If I won, we were guaranteed the Porygon.

I stood in the blue trainers box, waiting for the match to start. I was nervous. Something that a year of training taught me not to be. I tried to push away my doubts, but they would not go away. Finally, I forced myself to think of Caleb, Mom, and Dad. It was what I did when I couldn't stop my doubts. Grim determination dragged the doubts away, kicking and screaming.

"Trainers, release your first Pokémon!" the referee yelled. Without even thinking, I threw Zan's Pokéball with all my might.

Dual explosions of light filled the room as if flash bangs had be thrown. Instead of disorientation, our Pokémon appeared. Zan, looked mildly shocked at his release. At least I thought it was because of his release. My opponent sent out a Jolteon as well. This one, was flawless. No scars, no blind eye, and seemed to be younger than Zan. Zan and I had a tough fight ahead, but our new plan made me confident.

 **Zan's POV**

The Jolteon's blue eyes stared at me with analytical interest. He was a few years younger than me and in a lot better shape. He did not have any scars on his body, nor had he been blinded in one eye. His stares were not unkind, nor judgmental. They were warm, filled with the fire of youth. However, when he spoke, it was with misplaced compassion.

"You are my opponent? I do not want to fight someone that can not fight back. Please, do not force me to fight someone who is weary of fighting. _"_

'Boy, you do not realize what you are dealing with. I am the last opponent you will want to face. _'_ I replied coldly in my thoughts. I would have growled, but the snipped vocal chords would transmit the sound. I could feel the machines in my blood flood through me. Attaching to the individual cells of my body, ready to repair and strengthen.

"Don't say I didn't warn you. _"_ the other Jolteon replied almost sadly.

Orders flooded my ears and filled my mind. I leapt into action. Summoning as much electricity as I could muster, I leapt into the air and fired it in every direction. It would look like I was just shooting wildly, but, in reality, I was actually created an electromagnetic field that I could use as an early warning system. In a sense, it would act as my right eye.

The electricity, visibly faded, but the field remained. I landed swiftly on the ground and waited for my next order. It came as an order to dodge as the Jolteon tried to hammer me with a Double Edge. I easily jumped out of the way, before retaliating with a quick Bite attack. I did get the bite in but it wasn't very deep or hard.

"Jolteon, use Volt Switch!" his trainer yelled.

"Zan, use the same move!" Katlyn yelled.

'I hate this move.' I thought as I focused all of my electricity into a single energy ball. We threw the orbs at the same time, then quickly ran to the trainer boxes. Katlyn already had Ember's Pokéball ready and threw it as hard as she could once I had reached her.

 **Ember's POV**

A loud bang and a flash later, I awoke on the battlefield, a Cacturne stared down at me with its frightening glare. It ran at me with a light red, glowing fist. It took a swing at me which I easily sidestepped. I countered with a Flamethrower, but it didn't make contact. The Cacturne jumped back toward his trainer then focused bright green energy into his hands. The energy swirled around as he threw it toward me. The Energy Ball fell short and smashed into the ground in front of me, sending dirt and bits of rock into the air. I couldn't see much at first, but I clearly heard the order for a Focus Punch!

"Ember, he is directly ahead of you! Use Fire Blast!" Katlyn yelled urgently. Opening my mouth, I unleashed a massive wave of fire. The outline of the Cacturne was consumed by the flames and disappeared.

"Cacturne, now!"

The Cacturne emerged from the smoke at a full sprint. His fist, covered in a swirling red energy. Before I could react, the fist connected with my bottom jaw. My mouth snapped shut as I practically did a back flip, landing on my back. Seconds later, the waves of near unbearable pain had reached my brain. I flipped myself over and backed away slowly, baring my fangs. The taste of blood filled my mouth. I glanced over at the spot where I thought the Cacturne had been and saw a pile of rocks strewn all over where the Cacturne stood, a sure sign that he had used Substitute.

"Ember, use Will-O-Wisp!" Katlyn yelled. I smiled a little. She had a plan that didn't include attack, attack, attack.

Several bluish purple orbs flashed into existence. They began to rotate around me before flying off and splashing into the Cacturne. The flames burned the Cacturne in several places. It shuddered as it felt the full effect of the Will-O-Wisp.

"Ok, Ember, now use Facade!"

Charging at the Cacturne, pulsating lights covered my body. I hit the Cacturne, sending it to the ground. It was still being hurt by his burns, giving the Facade more power.

"Ok, finish it off with Flare Blitz!"

I enveloped myself in super heated flames and shot myself at the Cacturne. Fire arced off of me like sun flares.

"Cacturne, Spiky Shield!" I heard the other trainer yell.

Thorns and thistles formed all around the Cacturne, making a nearly impenetrable shield, and I was heading straight for it!

"Ember, Fire Blast!"

I opened my mouth while still in mid-rush. A blast of fire flew forward. The heat was so extreme that the thistles all but melted away. The Fire Blast didn't reach the Cacturne, but my Flare Blitz did. I smashed into the Cacturne sending both him and myself flying.

I ached all over but otherwise I was fine. I stood up gingerly, trying to assess the damage to my body. I smiled a little when I saw that I was still in one piece. It had been years since I had a true battle and to be honest, it felt great. However, a combo like that definitely took a lot out of me.

Looking around, I saw the Cacturne passed out on the ground. I sighed in relief, knowing that I probably wouldn't be able to take another bout with the grass, dark type. I limped my way to Katlyn's side and laid down.

 **Caleb's POV**

"So what do you want to do? _"_ I asked hoping Devin would be willing to play. The past week had been rather difficult and I was restless.

"Caleb, I really don't want to do anything. _"_ the Pichu said in annoyance.

"Oh, come on. Do you know how long I have been unable to walk around? It has been torture! _"_ I replied.

"Dude, I was there. I know exactly how long it has been. Go chase a Butterfree or something. I'll sit here and watch. _"_

"No, we will be going for a walk. _"_

We both turned around and we were met with a Pikachu. I had no clue who this was, but Devin let out a loud groan.

"Emily! Why did she have to get you involved? Now I won't be able to just sit here. _"_

"Exactly, so let's get moving. There are a lot of things we can do. I even brought Brand so he could get some exercise! _"_ Emily said happily.

"Uh, so where is he? _"_ I asked, looking around.

"Brand, get over here. Stop being shy. The only one here you don't know well is Caleb, and I promise he won't bite. _"_ Emily said rolling her eyes.

The Cyndaquil in question slunk into view. He did not look comfortable in the slightest and seemed to be looking for any way to escape hanging around with us.

"Don't even think about it. _"_ Emily warned when it seemed like the Cyndaquil would run off.

"Emily, it's scary out here. What if some Pidgeot thinks I will make a tasty treat? _"_ Brand asked.

"Then I will shock it so it won't get you. _"_ Emily replied, quickly losing her patients.

"But _…_ but! _"_ Brand stammered.

"Brand! You are coming with us! _"_ Emily affirmed. Brand realized he was not going to win and just sighed.

We walked around my house for several minutes before I decided to show everyone something cool. After some convincing, I led everyone through the woods behind my house. A few minutes into the walk, and we found what I was looking for.

It was an old derelict farm house on the very back of our property. Something that my parents had always said to avoid. I figured since they weren't here and I never really got to explore this place, it was about time that I get to see what was here.

"This doesn't exactly look like something that I really want to go in. _"_ Devin said staring at the large, rotting door.

"It will be fine. Nobody has been here for like fifty years. _"_

"Yeah, but this place looks like it is falling apart. Look at it! _"_ Devin said.

I could see where he was coming from. The house had a large wraparound porch that had almost completely rotted away. The awning and handrails for the porch were collapsing or had already collapsed. Most of the windows were cracked or broken. The windows that weren't, were so dirty that you couldn't see through them. The whole house looked like a forsaken mess, but I had my mind set.

"You went to a sunken tower, cobwebs and all, yet you don't want to explore an old house? _"_ I asked, knowing that would convince Devin to come.

"Well, I, that was different! We had to go there! _"_ Devin yelled, realizing I had backed him into a corner.

"Caleb, do you think this is a good idea? _"_ Emily asked.

"We are Pokémon right now. We can get ourselves out of here if something happens, but nothing is going to happen. We are just exploring. _"_

"Alright, but the moment something breaks, we are out of there. _"_ Emily conceded.

"Emily, I don't want to go in there. Can I just stay out here? _"_ Brand piped up as we headed inside.

"I guess, but it would be safer if we all stick together. _"_ Emily replied.

"How bout you and Caleb go inside, and me and Devin can stay out here? We would be able to get help if you guys get in trouble. _"_ Brand said quickly.

"Alright, but you two better not run off. Do you hear me? _"_

"Yes ma'am! _"_ Devin and Brand said in unison.

 **Zan's POV**

The young Jolteon came out just as ignorantly as last time. I laughed inside, imaging the surprised look he would have after I beat him. I quickly scolded myself for getting so worked up, but it felt hollow. This was the chance I had been waiting for. I could prove myself to another of my kind.

I jumped into action and quickly reestablished my electrical field, eliminating my disadvantage. The other Jolteon leaped forward and immediately ran to the right side of my body, taking him into my "blind spot". I chuckled to myself and aimed a swift Double Kick as I subconsciously followed Katlyn's orders. The Jolteon's course didn't change and I could feel the static energy of some sort of energy attack. I adjusted my position slightly then kicked back. The first set of kicks stunned my opponent long enough for the second set to hit. The Pokémon's energy move dissipated as he recovered then retreated.

Smirking, I charged a quick Pin Missile attack and fired several pins at the young Jolteon. They struck the ground in several places but failed to hit the Jolteon. The Jolteon retaliated with a Pin Missile attack of his own. I dodged most of them, but was hit with a few. They stung slightly, but didn't do any real damage.

"You are doing well for a half blind Jolteon. _"_ my opponent complemented.

'Not to bad yourself.' I thought as I prepared for an incoming Shadow Ball. Quickly jumping up. I narrowly dodged the ball of energy, and shot more Pin Missiles, everyone missing.

"You won't hit me with such a slow attack. _"_ the Jolteon mocked.

I only smirked, as I finished Katlyn's plan. I launched a large a Shadow Ball, laced with a small amount of electricity. The ball hit the nearest pin charging it with the dark energy. The electricity carried onto the next pin until it created a tight circle around the Jolteon. The Shadow Ball's energy was carried by the electricity to make a circuit of dark power. If the Jolteon tried to pass through it, he would injury himself than it was worth. The Jolteon rushed at the barrier and was thrown back by the dark energy.

"What is this? What did you do? _"_ the Jolteon asked frantically.

"Zan use Swift."Katlyn ordered with a smirk.

I charged up the attack and launched a flurry of yellow stars. They crashed into the Jolteon, sending him into the barrier, injuring it further.

"Do it on more time!"

"Jolteon, use Dig to get under the barrier!" My opponent's trainer yelled as I shot the Swift attack. The Jolteon quickly dug into the ground, making my Swift miss.

"Zan! Be careful!" Katlyn yelled, concern, for the first time, leaking into her voice. _"_ Use Agility!"

I began to run at top speed. Light streaked my body as I gained an extra burst of speed.

'You have grown Katlyn.' I thought with a small smile.

I felt the ground tremble a bit as I ran. Suddenly I realized why Katlyn was worried. I couldn't sense where the Jolteon was. I continued to run, hoping to confuse the Jolteon.

"Zan, use Double Team!" Katlyn added.

'You are just going to wear me out, aren't ya?' I thought as I created several clones.

"Jolteon! Use Hyper Beam from under the ground!"

Seconds later, I could here a loud hum coming from under the ground. The air became warm then became unbearably oppressive. The underground Jolteon was hidden from my senses, making the Hyper Beam impossible to detect. I could only hope that my Double Team and my Agility would throw off the his aim.

 **Katlyn's POV**

"Zan! No!" I yelled as a beam of energy shot directly underneath the real Zan. The clones had all disappeared and Zan crashed to the ground. Zan struggled to get to his feet, but he collapsed several times. The other Jolteon emerged from the hole the Hyper Beam had come from. He was panting and badly beaten. One more attack and he could go down. I just had to think of something.

"That Jolteon is almost done! Get him with Double Kick!"

 **Flashback**

"Raichu, use Dynamic Punch!" I ordered. Jack launched into action, a fist glowing a deep red.

"Jolteon finish the rodent off with Synchronoise." Jeff said plainly. The Jolteon glowed a deep purple and waves blasted off of the Jolteon. Jack screeched in pain and collapsed.

"You need to learn to be more strategic. You keep coming at me like that and I will always knock you down with Synchronoise. When used against a Pokémon of the same type, it doubles in strength. Once you learn how to counter a move like that, then you will be something to fear." Jeff said gentle as I held Jack.

 **Present Time**

The Jolteon charged at Zan. Zan panted heavily but was determined not to lose. This was our last chance for Zan to prove himself. He would deny it but he fought like he had to prove himself. This was his fight. He had to finish this.

"Zan, use Synchronoise!" I yelled.

Zan glowed a familiar purple then blast waves of light flew toward the other Jolteon. He stopped dead in his tracks. Howling in pain, the Jolteon fell to the ground.

"Jolteon is unable to battle! Katlyn and Zan are the winners!" referee yelled. I sighed in relief.

 **Caleb's POV**

Upon entering the house, I was blown away with the smell of rot. The front foyer was in shambles. It was more or less an open area. Emily and I walked to the next room.

It was a large living room. There were two doors. One directly in front of us and the one we just came through. Old, dusty furniture dotted the room. Old paintings hung crookedly on the walls and a broken music box stood silently on the coffee table.

"This is a little creepy. _"_ I muttered as I looked around.

"We can go back if you want. _"_ Emily replied, staring at an old picture.

"N-no, that's alright. _"_ I replied nervously. Wanting to change the subject, I looked through the other door in the room _"_ Hey! This looks like the kitchen! _"_

It was a small kitchen with a large potbelly stove sitting in the far left corner of the room. A broken table sat in the far right corner.

"This is kind of a boring room, let's check out the upstairs. _"_ Emily said as she headed to the stairwell behind the table.

 **Devin's POV**

"How long does it take to look in a creepy old house? _"_

I asked myself as we sat on the porch. Brand was shuffling around a leaf while I complained.

"I-I'm sure they are fine. We didn't hear them shout or anything. _"_ Brand replied.

At that moment, there was blood-curdling shriek followed by a blast of electricity from inside the house. Brand and I jumped up and looked at each other with wide eyes.

"Come on! We have to go save them! _"_ Brand yelled running into the house.

"Now you want to be brave. _"_ I mumbled, reluctantly following him.

"This is creepy. _"_ Brand whimpered a little.

"Y-yeah. _"_ I stammered out, unable to think of anything else to say.

We slowly checked the bottom floor, but found nothing. We proceeded upstairs very cautiously jumping at every creak the wooden steps made. We were both relieved when we reached the top of the steps. The relief was short lived as we looked around. We were in a hallway with two doors on each side and a single door directly ahead of us. All of the doors were shut, except for one. We inched to the door and peaked inside.

The room used to be a bedroom. Remnants of a bed sat in the middle of the room. There were no signs of life. The only thing that we saw was a burned piece of the metal bed frame. Brand walked to the half opened closet and peered inside.

"Hey! There is a secret passage back here! _"_ he yelled.

"Yea _…_ another dark, creepy tunnel to climb through. _"_ I replied sarcastically.

I led the way, shooting off a few sparks to light the way. The tunnel actually turned out to be another small staircase. It went down and down and seemed to be leading underneath the house.

Soon, we found the bottom. It was a large, cluttered room. Boxes and crates littered the ground. My few sparks showed a larger staircase on the far side of the room with a doorway like the ones we saw on the first floor.

"Crap, this is a basement. _"_ I mumbled. We walked to the middle of the room then heard a small, gentle tune playing. It was barely noticeable. My brain began to run away from me as I thought about the one thing that could play a tune like that. It had to be the music box upstairs. Brand and I began to backtrack when Brand stepped in something.

"C-could you l-light this u-up for a m-minute? _"_ he stammered. I shot a few sparks and saw that his feet were covered in a bright red substance.

"I-is t-that blood? _"_ I asked out of panic. Looking around, I found something even more terrifying. A few feet away, there was a wrapped up lump of something. Slowly unwrapping it, my fears had come true. It was Emily wrapped in the cloth! She was covered in blood!

"I am going to be sick. _"_ Brand mumbled, in to much shock to say much else.

I looked closely at Emily to make sure it was her. It was beyond a shadow of a doubt. I stepped back, realizing what this meant, horror etched in my face! Then, all of the sudden, the bundle leapt at me.

"Aaahhh! _"_ Brand and I shrieked as we ran for the stairs we had come down in. We made it to the bottom of the stair, but stopped when we heard laughter. It sounded familiar, and definitely not scary. We slowly turned around and saw Emily rolling around on the ground, laughing.

"Emily? _"_ Brand and I asked.

"Y-you s-should have see y-your f-faces! T-they were p-priceless! _"_ she struggled to say through her laughter.

"It was all prank? _"_ Brand asked. Emily only nodded as she laughed.

"Where is Caleb? _"_ I asked, my eyes narrowing.

"I'm over here! _"_ came a cackling voice He walked out from behind a few crates, tears streaming down his cheeks as he laughed.

"Brand, I'd say that we show them exactly how we felt about that. _"_ I said angrily.

"I agree, we were worried sick! _"_ Brand yelled.

I shot a Thundershock at Caleb and Brand shot an Ember attack Emily.

"Hey stop! That hurts. _"_ Emily shouted.

"It was just a joke! _"_ Caleb added.

"Where did you get the blood? _"_ I asked.

"There was a shelf that had a bunch of paint. Caleb spread it around and I wrapped myself in the cloth to make it look like I had been attacked then disposed of.

"Who started the music box upstairs? _"_ Brand asked. Emily and Caleb looked at each other and shrugged.

"We didn't do it. _"_ Caleb replied.

"I did it _."_ a deep voiced figure said from behind Emily and Caleb. _"_ You will become an exquisite dinner. _"_ the creature said as it stepped into the light coming from me and Emily.

"Maggie? _"_ we all yelled.

Maggie chuckled. _"_ I thought that your parent's said to stay away from this house, Caleb. _"_ Maggie stated.

"Well, yeah, but I couldn't help it! _"_

"You could have. _"_ Maggie replied simply.

"Are you going to tell them that we were out here? _"_ Emily asked.

"No, because that would mean that I would have to tell them that you all were Pokémon. _"_ she replied. _"_ Anyways, your parent's are home Caleb. I told them that Devin and Emily decided to take you on a walk. They want y'all back for dinner. _"_

"Aw, we were just beginning to have fun! _"_ Caleb complained.

"I had about as much fun as I can take for today. _"_ I said quickly.

"I'm with Devin. Let's call it a day! _"_ Brand said.

 **Austin's POV**

I stared at the battlefield in horror. Katlyn finished Lawrence with three swift attacks. It didn't even take her two minutes to accomplish that.

"Go Elweard!" I yelled, hoping that he could take on both a Ninetales and her next Pokémon.

"Alright, Ember, use Dig!" she ordered.

"Counter with Earthquake!" I yelled with a smirk. Elweard gathered energy into his fists and quickly punched the ground. There was a loud grumble as the ground began to shake.

"Alright Ember, get out using Zen Headbutt!" Ember emerged behind Elweard before the Earthquake had reached full power, her body covered in a purplish pink energy! Jumping at Elweard with all of her might, she slammed into him with near perfect form. Her attack caused her to miss the brunt of the Earthquake.

"Elweard!" I cried as he fell to a single knee. He struggled, but he managed to stand back up. I smiled, ready to continue. "Use Aura Sphere, then use Force Palm!"

Elweard charged forward. Forming an Aura Sphere as he ran. He closed the majority of the distance before firing the Aura sphere. The Aura Sphere barely had a chance to hit before he quickly followed it up with his force palm. The two attacks knocked Ember back several feet making me regain my confidence.

"Ember, use Iron Tail!" Katlyn yelled.

"Use Counter!" I replied quickly, wondering what Katlyn was thinking. Ember's tails glowed a metallic gray as she quick closed the gap. Elweard readied himself, crouching close to the ground.

"Stop dead in your tracks and use Hypnosis!" Katlyn ordered with a grin.

Before I could order a counter, Ember's eyes glowed bright blue. A wave-like pulse flowed toward Elweard. The Lucario's eyes started to droop, and he soon fell asleep.

"Ember, finish things off with a Dream Eater!" Emily yelled.

Looking in horror, Elweard began to thrash about in his sleep, as if something was attacking him. Beads of energy escaped Elweard and flew to a glowing Ember. She quickly finished the move, leaving Elweard in a heap on the ground.

"Elweard is unable to battle! Katlyn and Ember are the winners!" the referee yelled.

"Elweard, I'm sorry." I mumbled as I quietly returned him to his Pokéball.

 **Katlyn's POV**

I stood on stage with O'Malley on my left and Austin on my right. The crowd was cheering filling the room with more noise than I could bear. I wanted desperately to clasp my hands over my ears, but knew I couldn't.

"Ladies and gentlemen, these are your winners in the twenty-fifth annual Singno Pokémon tournament! In third place, we have O'Malley from Rockford, Hoenn! In Second place, we have Austin from Pallet Town, Kanto! And in first place, we have Katlyn from Saffron, Kanto! Everybody give these trainers a round of applause!" the announcer's voice boomed as the crowds erupted with clapping and cheering. "Third and second place will receive this amazing commemorative medal. First place will receive a medal and something many trainers would die to have. This Pokéball, containing a Porygon!"

'Just hurry up already!' I thought as the announcer started handing out the medals. He shook hands with O'Malley and allowed some reporters to snap a few pictures and ask a few questions. The man then did the same with Austin, who was losing his patients as well.

Finally, it was my turn. As the winner, I was asked the most questions. I was about to explode when the announcer finally gave me the Pokéball containing the Porygon. I graciously accepted it, still trying to keep my cool, and suffered through the rest of the finishing ceremony.

 **Sam's POV**

"You guys did great." I said as we left the convention hall.

"I am never doing another tournament like that again." Katlyn muttered tiredly.

"At least we got the Porygon." Austin pointed out. "Hey, let's see it! I want to see it at least one before I get back to my own world."

Katlyn pulled out the Pokéball and opened it. The small pink and blue bird like Pokémon popped out. It looked at us with analytical interest.

"Congratulations trainer Katlyn, for winning the tournament. This unit will be happy to assist you in any and all challenges that may slow you down." it spoke with a robotic tone.

"Holy crap! It talked!" I exclaimed.

"Yes, this unit can talk. This unit can also fire a Ti-Attack at anyone who underestimates this unit's intelligence programming." it threatened.

"Sorry, I didn't mean any offense." I quickly apologized.

"I definitely think that we can easily get five or six thousand for this guy. Those tickets are as good as ours." Austin said happily.

"This unit is not for resale. In case of resale, this unit will shut down and will not restart." the Porygon beeped.

"What are we going to do now? We need those tickets!" Austin yelled.

"This unit may be of some assistance." the Porygon began to glow as if it were evolving. It then shrank and flew into Austin's pocket, where his phone had been.

"Did it just go into my phone?" Austin asked in surprise.

"Yeah, I heard that Porygon can go into computers and other electronics." I replied the same shock in my own voice. Just then, Austin's phone beeped and began to glow. The Porygon jumped out toward us.

"This unit has succeeded in acquiring three tickets on the next flight of your choosing."

"H-how did you do that?" we asked in unison.

"If trainer Katlyn and her friends must know, I rerouted five dollars from over one thousand different online accounts, then made the purchase of the three tickets through an anonymous banking account I created moments before." the Porygon beeped.

"None of this is going to catch up with me, is it?" Katlyn asked.

"No, Trainer Katlyn. Everything was done overseas. You will no be implicated in any way."

"Um, that's great, but uh, you stole five grand from people!" I yelled

"Sam, drop it. Let's just get on the plane and get moving!" Austin replied quickly. I sighed and Katlyn returned the Porygon to its Pokéball.

* * *

I hope y'all enjoyed the chapter. I loved writing this one. The battle between Elweard and Ember was actually based on one I had on Pokémon Alpha Sapphire. I lost tremendously to the Ninetales I fought and ended up losing the battle. That was a week before I lost my game and I still haven't found the stupid thing! Anyways, happy early Halloween. If you have anything to say, be sure to review or PM me. If you are enjoying the story, be sure to smash that favorite/follow button. This is shieldliger001 signing off!


	47. Chapter 47

Happy Halloween everyone! I know that I was supposed to publish A New Age first, but I really wanted to do a Halloween chapter for OMAA. I just want to remind everyone that I do not own Pokémon. Pokémon is owned by Nintendo and Gamefreak. The characters are mine except for Zan who is a character sent to me by Rayrudan. On to the reviews!

Monpoke: Great to hear from you as always! I don't want people to forget about Caleb so I thought some shenanigans with him in them would be a good start, especially since the story has been pretty serious. I'm sorry if I didn't respond to the rest of your review. My translator only does like a general Spanish, so some of the sentences don't make a lot of since. I'm trying to find a better one, but haven't been very successful.

AveragePichu: As always, thanks for the help. I still have problems finding all of the to/too mistakes, mostly because they sound the same! Glad you liked the last chapter!

* * *

 **Let's say you go to a friend's wedding, or Thanksgiving, or Halloween. It'd be great the next day to see what went on with your friends' Thanksgiving weekend, or all the costumes they wore on Halloween, and be able to look back and see what they wore the year before, and the year before that.**

 **Mike McCue**

* * *

 **Chapter 47**

 **Austin's POV**

I had forgotten about having to go to the police station, but the officer's didn't let me forget. They escorted us to the station and made me sign about five hundred pages of testimony, and adoption papers. Sam and Katlyn were getting pretty tired and aggravated. They breathed a sigh of relief when they finally let us go. Because of the tournament and the long wait at the police station, Katlyn was rushing us to the airport.

"I didn't expect to see you kids again so soon. I assume that you have the money for your tickets?" the lady working the counter said with a disappointed frown.

"Actually, we already purchased the tickets online. We just need to get on the plane." I replied with a grin.

"Is that so? Well, I need to see them before I can permit you onto the plane."

"Here you go." I said cheekily as I handed the lady my phone.

"I'm sorry, but you must have the tickets printed out. We do not accept electronic tickets. You better hurry and get those tickets printed out. The last flight leaves in ten minutes." the lady said with a sardonic smile as our faces paled.

"Juliet! That is enough! You know very well that we print off electronic tickets here! This is your last warning do your job or you are fired!" a man said angrily as he approached Juliet from behind.

"Mr. Johnston! Sir, this is not what it seems!" Juliet exclaimed.

"I see you harassing three costumers of our airline. It looks exactly like it seems. Print off the tickets." Mr. Johnston replied. Juliet pouted before print off our tickets.

"Thank you, Sir. We thought that we would miss our flight." Katlyn said as the man handed us our tickets.

"It's no problem at all. We're sorry for the inconvenience." he replied.

"Come on guys! Let's go!" Katlyn exclaimed as we rushed to the terminal.

 **Sam's POV**

Katlyn fell asleep shortly after the plane took off. Austin was watching a movie and I was reading all about the Cinnabar Gym. I looked over at Katlyn for a few minutes. She was twisting and turning in her seat, obviously suffering from a nightmare.

"Hey Austin. Do you think Katlyn is acting way too depressed?" I asked.

"Heh, what was your first guess? The fact that she hasn't smiled since the storm? Or the fact that she has been nothing but angry and cold to everyone around her?" Austin snorted.

"Point taken. So what are we going to do? She can't be like this forever." I replied.

"I guess we just let her heal. She was in a Rocket base for an entire year. She probably did things that she wished had never happened. She probably felt like she was living in a nightmare."

"I have an idea, but it requires a pit stop at Cinnabar Island. The Cinnabar gym puts on an awesome Halloween parade every year. Kids and adults can dress up and have fun. They pass out candy and have haunted houses, mazes, and even a magic show and parade. The best part is that the gym will be taking challengers until midnight!" I explained excitedly.

"It sounds like you just want to challenge the gym." I said with a sly grin. Sam began to protest, but I quickly cut him off. "But it could do some good for her. Here is the big question though, how are we going to get her off the plane tomorrow?"

"I thought this was a connecting flight."

"No, its one of those layover flights. We stop for an hour or so then we take off again." Austin whispered.

"Ok, so this is what we do. When the passengers start to get off. You pretend that someone just grabbed one of your Pokéballs. We get Katlyn to come off and help us catch the guy."

"I guess that could work. Let's do it!"Austin replied.

 **Devin's POV**

"Ok you two. You better head on to your beds. Just because your brother is a trainer doesn't mean you don't get any sleep either." Mrs. Ward said causing me to roll my eyes. I really didn't want to go to bed. It was only eight-thirty.

"Besides, we have quite the big day planned for tomorrow." Mr. Ward said happily.

"What do you have planned?" Emily asked suspiciously.

"Well, tomorrow is Halloween. Every year, Clark and I go to the city's Halloween festival. We used to take the kids when they were younger but haven't done that for several years. It has just been us for about four years now. Anyways, you two will get to trick or treat, play games, and go through haunted houses. However, we may not do any of things if Clark's surprise works out." Mrs.

"That sounds awesome and all, but we don't have any costumes or anything." I said trying to think up an excuse.

"Don't worry about that. Costumes are optional. It will be fun." Mr. Ward replied.

"What about all of the people that you know? Won't they be suspicious if they see you with three kids?" Emily asked.

"We can just tell them you are our niece and nephews." Mrs. Ward replied casually.

"Alright, we'll go." Emily replied quietly.

"Alright, it's settled. The festival starts at five so stay relatively close to the house so we don't have to go looking for you." Mr. Ward said as he and Mrs. Ward went into the other room.

' _Why didn't you guys try to talk them out of it!'_ Caleb yelled in our heads as he and Maggie sat on the floor.

"You heard the conversation, we tried!" I whispered back.

' _This is going to suck! This will be the worst Halloween ever known to man!'_ Caleb moaned.

"What do you have to complain about? We are the ones who are going to have to act like kids! No one expects anything from babies!" I replied sharply.

' _Except that I don't get to eat any candy, people are going to coo me to death, and, knowing my parents, I will be dressed in some ridiculous costume!'_ Caleb groaned, audibly this time.

"Well, at least we don't have to dress up." Emily muttered.

' _Knowing my parent's, you probably will have to; unless you want to hurt their feelings.'_ Caleb replied.

" _I have had enough complaining for_ _one_ _day. So, I am leaving. You all should be happy that you are getting a second chance at this! Have fun! There are lot's of people that would kill to have what you three have."_ Maggie said before standing up.

' _Wait, Maggie! You are the only way I can...'_ Caleb was cut off as Maggie left. He crossed his arms and tried to look angry, but he was failing miserably.

 **Katlyn's POV**

"Katlyn! Wake up!" Austin whispered into my ear. I batted him away but he persisted. "Come on! This is emergency!"

"Unless we are crashing into the ocean, I don't care." I muttered grouchily.

"We are at Cinnabar International Airport! One of the other passengers stole Elweard's Pokéball as he got off the plane!"

"So? Just get him a new one." I mumbled sleepily.

"Katlyn! Elweard was in it, remember?"

It took me a minute to process what he was saying. When it finally did dawn on me, I shot out of my seat. "Do you know who took it? I mean can you at least describe him?"

"Yeah, I can do that. Well, at least I know what he was wearing."

"Good, than let's go." I replied coolly.

"Where?"

"To the security office in the terminal." I replied.

 **Sam's POV**

"Thanks for doing this for us, Jonathan. My cousin has had a hard time since her parents died." I said.

"It's quite alright, Sam. I think we both know that I owe your family more than a few favors."

Jonathan was my Dad's first arrest. He was arrested for petty theft and sentenced to two years in the local penitentiary. My Dad visited him once or twice a week because he saw something inside of him. After Jonathan got out of prison, he stayed with us for a few months. My dad knew a guy who set up a job for Jonathan. After a while, he moved. We still talked, but not nearly as much.

"Well, thanks anyways. So how did you get this job?" I asked as we waited for Austin and Katlyn.

"I guess they thought an old jail bird would be a good security guard." he laughed. "I have to admit, I am good at this. Caught three guys just last night trying to steal from other passengers. Their is something about a person's eyes that gives them away. You know?"

"Hello? This is an emergency! We need help!"

"That's them. If you can keep them busy for just another half hour, that would be great." I whispered. Jonathan nodded and left the back room of the security office.

"How can I help you two?" I heard Jonathan ask through the door.

"Somebody stole my Pokéball from my belt as we sat on the plane!" Austin exclaimed.

"I see. Do you know what the guy was wearing? Were there any distinguishing marks?"

"He was wearing a red hoodie and blue jeans. I didn't see anything that would be very distinguishing. I think he had brown hair. I my friend already went after him, but I haven't seen him since it happened." I heard Austin say.

"Alright, I assure you that we will catch the guy who did this. Let me get my radio and I will look for him.

 **Katlyn's POV**

We looked all over the airport and didn't find a single thing. The security guard called to several others, asking if they had seen anyone matching Austin's description, but to no avail.

"This is the last call for boarding of flight 115 going to Viridian City. Please be at terminal 4. The plane will be departing shortly." the PA announced. I frowned and furrowed my brow after hearing the announcement. I had half a mind to tell Austin to let Elweard go, but knew that I would feel the same way he was if Caleb had disappeared.

"Katlyn, I am so sorry. I am just slowing us down." Austin said quietly.

My frown softened as I placed my hand on his shoulder. "It's alright. You are my friend, and I will help you whenever you need it."

"Thanks Katlyn."

"Ok you two. One of the other guys caught the kid and has your Pokéball." the guard said to us happily.

"Great! Let's go get it!" Austin yelled.

 **Sam's POV**

"I'm sorry that we missed our flight. If only Elweard wasn't taken." Austin muttered as we walked down the street.

"It couldn't be helped. Hey, at least we can relax today. There is a parade tonight and there is lot's of Halloween stuff!" I said cheerily.

"Isn't it strange that they didn't ask you to fill out some kind of report?" Katlyn asked suspiciously.

"I guess." Austin shrugged.

"So, what are we going to do?" I asked.

"Well, since we are going to be here for the night, we should get into the spirit of things!" Austin suggested.

"Yeah, let's get some stuff for the parade!" I added.

"What kind of things?" Katlyn asked.

"You'll see! This is going to be great!" Austin yelled as he took off towards the nearest Halloween store.

 **Devin's POV**

"I thought you guys said we didn't have to where costumes!" I yelled out of embarrassment.

"I tried to stop her. She hasn't had the thrill of shopping for children in several years. I would suggest that y'all just play along." Mr. Ward said as he placed the costumes on the couch.

"B-but, this is, embarrassing." Emily stuttered, picking at the sleeve of her t-shirt.

"I know. I had a feeling about you two. You are like Caleb and Katlyn, aren't you?"

"W-what do you m-mean?" I asked.

"Yep, you two are just like them. Your denial just proves it. I know you two find this somewhat embarrassing, but just try to bear. Besides, you two aren't in as bad a shape as Caleb. His mother is going be the death of him." Mr. Ward said shaking his head.

We grabbed the packages and headed the guest room. Emily threw her costume on the bed as I stared at the package in my hands. It was an army costume. It had the jumpsuit, the army helmet and a toy gun.

"At least mine isn't half bad." I muttered as I unwrapped the costume.

"Lucky you. I got a princess costume." Emily replied as she glared at the pink outfit.

"Glad it's you not me." I smirked. Emily only glared at me.

"Is it alright if I come in?" Mrs. Ward asked as she knocked on the door. I opened the door and let her in.

"Emily, if you don't want to wear the costume, you don't have to. I thought that you would like to dress up because most kids like to. I am sorry if I offended you." Mrs. Ward apologized.

Emily's glare melted away. "I'm sorry for being such a pain. Pink really isn't my color."

"You aren't a pain. Katlyn was the same way. I see your brother likes his costume."

I blushed as I realized that they were staring at me. I had half of the army jumpsuit on. "What? I like the army."

"Whatever you say, soldier boy." Emily smirked.

 **Katlyn's POV**

"I can't believe I let you guys talk me into this!" I said as I looked at the large array of costumes. Sam had already picked out a grim reaper style costume and Austin grabbed some kind of black kimono with a some kind of white robe that went over it. He also picked up a plastic katana to go with his costume.

"Well, we're here so you might as well pick something." Sam shrugged.

"Fine, I'll go with this." I said picking up a purple kimono similar to Austin's, but instead of a sword, I chose one of those wooden umbrellas.

"Good, let's get ready for the parade and the haunted house!" Sam exclaimed.

We went to the Pokémon Center and checked into a room. We got ready for the parade and got something to eat. We returned to the room to grab some things before we went out for our night on the town. I peaked into the mirror and saw the three of us in the mirror. We looked like one big, goofy family. I smiled a little, then let it spread into a large grin.

"Let's go guys! We don't want to be in the back!" I yelled, the excitement finally getting to me.

 **Caleb's POV**

' _You have got to be kidding me. This is ridiculous!'_ I yelled as I sat in the kitchen. Emily and Devin tried to stop laughing, but couldn't.

"Caleb, your mom knows how to pick out the costumes!" Devin laughed.

' _Shut up soldier boy! When Katlyn gets back, I am so kicking your ass!'_ I yelled.

"Caleb Ward! Watch your mouth! _"_ Maggie snapped. _"_ Besides, I think you pretty cute as a little chili pepper. _"_

' _Gee, Maggie, some help you are!'_

" _Oh, Caleb, lighten up. It is only one night. Go have fun seeing the sights!"_ Maggie replied my parents came into the kitchen.

' _Sometimes, I really hate you!'_ I muttered angrily.

" _I live to serve."_ Maggie replied with a sarcastic bow of her head.

 **Katlyn's POV**

"Whoa! Look at the size of this place!" Sam yelled as we approached the haunted house.

"This seems pretty corny if you ask me." I replied.

"Aw, come on. Don't be such a downer. I heard that this was the best haunted house in all of Kanto!" Sam exclaimed.

"I hope you're right. It would suck if everything looks fake!" Austin said.

The building looked like an ordinary steel building. The only thing that gave it a haunted feel was the sign saying haunted house. Sam held the door open and we walked inside.

The lobby was somewhat plain. Just a ticket booth and a door. I guessed the actual haunted house was back there. There was a young man in the booth and he looked rather bored.

"Is this where the haunted house is?" Austin asked.

"Yeah, tickets are ten bucks apiece." the man replied. I quickly scrounged up the money and handed it to Austin.

"Ok Katlyn, you better not grab onto me in the middle of the haunted house." Sam teased.

"Dude, you better shut up. We all know that I am the last person that would do that." I shot back. As I walked into the dark room behind the door.

 **Emily's POV**

We walked through the streets of Saffron City. The entire city was decked out in lights and decoration. The sidewalks were crowd with people and vendors. The closer we got to the center of town, the more crowded it became.

"You two, stay close. We don't want either of you to get lost." Mr. Ward said, taking my hand. Mrs. Ward grabbed Devin's hand as well. They led us through the crowds until we reached a large building.

"This is the Silph Co building. They are the ones that put on the festival every year." Mr. Ward explained.

"Cool, so what are we doing here?" I asked.

"Well, this year, one of my friends asked if we would like to participate in the parade. We are going to be on one of the Silph Co parade float!" Mr. Ward announced.

"Really?" Devin asked out of excitement.

'Sometimes, it's hard to tell if you even remember being nineteen.' I thought after hearing his enthusiasm.

"Yep. You haven't been on a parade float have you?"

"Nope this is going to be my first time!" Devin replied, his eyes sparkling. Caleb let out a strange giggle which probably translated into a scornful laugh. "Aw, be quiet Caleb!"

"Devin, you look weird talking to a baby." I pointed out.

"Shaddup, Emily!" Devin snapped.

"Cool it you two. You don't want to miss the parade do you?" Mrs. Ward intervened.

"Hey, there is our float!" Mr. Ward said yelling over the crowd.

 **Sam's POV**

"Who was the one holding onto me? Why it was none other than Samuel Mattlov himself." Katlyn taunted as we left the haunted house. The haunted house lived up to its reputation. It scared the living crap out of me.

"Fine! I admit it! I was scared! Satisfied?" I said seething.

"Yes, yes I am. So now what are we going to do?" Katlyn asked.

"We can go to the gym and challenge it. The parade won't start for another hour."

"I knew you had an ulterior motive! But, I guess we can go to the gym." Katlyn replied. She smiled at me. I smiled back. It was good to see she was having a good time.

 **Katlyn's POV**

"Um, guys, I don't want to alarm you, but that clown has been following us ever since we left the haunted house." I whispered. Sam and Austin peeked back behind us.

"Yep, he is definitely following us." Sam whispered back.

"Gee, why don't you walk up to him and ask him how he has been? You guys are terrible at being discreet." I said rolling my eyes.

"Let's get lost in the crowds. Hopefully we can lose him." Austin suggested.

"Yeah, let's do it!" Sam said, diving into the crowds.

We walked around for several minutes. The hustle and bustle of the crowds. I looked back and easily picked out the clown behind us. I was starting to worry.

"Guys, come here." I said grabbing them both. I rushed them out of the crowds and into an empty alley. I held my finger to my lips as we waited for the clown to pass. Seconds later, he passed. The white makeup and the red nose really gave me the chills. "Gotcha!" I yelled as I kicked him with all of my might.

"Ow! Stop it! I didn't do anything!" the clown yelled.

"Who are you and why are you following us?" Sam asked, his hand hovering over MK's Pokéball.

"I'm just one of the clowns from the haunted house! You dropped your wallet so I was trying to give it back! I swear!" the clown cried as he threw the wallet at Sam.

"Oh, uh, sorry. It's just that there are a lot of weirdos who would love to, well, hurt us." Austin replied.

"I understand. Sorry for scaring you. You all be safe!" the clown said as he disappeared into the crowd.

"That was weird." I said.

"You said it. Come on, let's get to the gym before it closes!"

"I am starting to think that you have a one track mind. Tell me, how are you going to challenge a gym with only one Pokémon that would catch the attention of everyone in the room." I said smugly.

"I'll, I'll have him transform into something else!"

"Against the rules, remember." Austin reminded.

"Can I borrow a Pokémon?" Sam asked.

"Nope." I replied.

"Sam she is only teasing you. Let's go." Austin said shaking his head.

"Yeah Sam, MK was on TV. I don't think it will matter if you use him again." I said with a smile.

 **Caleb's POV**

"Come Caleb, at least be happy that you are out of the house." Mom said as I sat unhappily on the float.

'What's there to be happy about? I just sit here and toss out candy. I don't even get any of it!' I thought as I tossed a few pieces weakly. I did have to admit that it was kind of fun to be in the parade. We weren't on a float, but we did get to sit on a hay bale trailer that was being pulled by a tractor. We wove through the streets of Saffron City tossing candy to those who were on the sidewalk. Soon we made an entire loop around the city and headed straight for the Silph Co building.

"Mr. and Mrs. Ward, thanks for letting me do this. I really had fun." Devin thanked as we got off the trailer.

"It was no problem. I am glad you liked it. I am also glad you liked your costume." Mom replied.

"Let's get home. We all had a busy day." Dad suggested as we walked back to the car.

"Clark! Kathrine! Wait!" a voice yelled just as everyone had buckled up.

"Who are you?" Dad asked his eyes narrowing.

"A friend. There is a certain someone who sent their best wishes to Caleb." a man said handing a card to Dad. The man nodded then walked off.

"What does it say?" Emily and Mom asked at the same time.

"Caleb, I know that you are having a hard time. I know that it has been a long time. I just want you to know that it is almost over. Hold on a little longer." Dad read. "It doesn't say who it's from."

'It can't be Katlyn could it? No, she would have signed her name. Then who could it be?' I thought.

 **Katlyn's POV**

"This battle will be between Gym Leader Blaine and Samuel Mattlov. As per the gym leader's orders. This will be a one on one match with no substitutions! Trainers, are you ready! Begin!"

"Your the reason for this season! Houndoom!" yelled an old man in a wheelchair.

"Go MK!" Sam yelled throwing the little Mew's Pokéball.

"I hope he plays this a little smarter. The last dark type destroyed him!" Austin said with worry.

"He'll be fine. I think he knows what to do now." I replied.

MK went straight into a Tackle at the dual type. I pressed my hand to my forehead. Sam hadn't learned a single thing. The Houndoom quickly fired Dark Pulse which MK barely dodged. MK continued his suicidal charge. He was mere inches from the Houndoom when it happened. He started to glow. He began to grow larger and less Mew-like. When the glowing ended there were two Houndoom crashing to the floor.

"He used transform." Austin muttered.

"I guess he is learning. Sure didn't seem like it at first."

"I thought he was about to lose before he even started." Austin admitted.

MK opened his mouth and a long column of fire erupted. It flew towards the other Houndoom, but didn't make it do much more than flinch. The Houndoom lunged at MK and bit down hard on his shoulder. MK howled and thrashed about in an attempt get him off. MK flung the Houndoom off and waited for Sam's orders. The Houndoom charged at MK. Its teeth infused with lightning. MK began to glow a deep red. He jumped to the side of the Houndoom's Thunder Fang and then tackled him.

"That was Counter." Austin whispered

"Will you stop whispering under your breathe? It is getting annoying!" I said through gritted teeth.

"Sorry." Austin said rubbing the back of his head.

MK had hit the Houndoom pretty hard. The Houndoom panted but otherwise looked healthy. MK once again launched himself at the Houndoom. He began to glow; reverting back to his regular form. The glow faded and MK shot like a bullet toward the Houndoom. His left fist glowed a deep red.

"Mega Punch." Austin whispered.

"I said shut up!" I yelled while punching him in the arm.

"Ow! Hey that hurt!" Austin whined.

"It was supposed to, idiot." I retorted.

Looking back at the match, I saw that MK's punch connected. The Houndoom was hurt now. Sam's new strategy was working to the letter. MK started to dash around the field. The field was being covered in Mews. Clones of MK zipped about. The Houndoom looked about out of confusion. Then erupted into flames.

"Ah, don't even say it, Austin." I warned as Austin began to open his mouth. He quickly shut it and returned to watching the battle.

The Inferno caused most of the clones to disappear, but MK was well out of range. The remain clones began to glow deep red. They all stopped moving. The Houndoom launched towards the nearest clone which disappeared. He jumped from MK to MK but found only the clones. Finally, there was only one MK left. The Houndoom lunged at him with all his might. MK countered perfectly. He side stepped the Houndoom and planted his fist directly into the Houndoom's gut. The Houndoom flew into the air. He crashed to the ground and passed out.

"Houndoom is unable to battle! The winner is Samuel!" the ref called.

"Come on! Let's get down there!" Austin yelled, racing to the battlefield. I took off after him. We made it to Sam just before Blaine gave him the badge.

"Are these your friends?" Blaine asked, to which Sam nodded in response. "I see. Well could you three come closer? I have something I want to tell all of you."

"What is it, sir?" Sam asked as we all got closer.

"Well, you see. I love doing this!" Blaine launched from his wheelchair, causing us all to jump. "You kids are too easy. Anyways, here is your Volcano Badge."

"Thank you, sir." Sam said as he graciously accepted the badge.

"Sam? Is that your only Pokémon?" Blaine asked.

"He isn't mine. He helps me from time to time." Sam explained.

"I see. You better take good care of him. He is one of a kind."

"Yes Sir." Sam replied.

"Let's get back to the Pokémon Center. I'm pretty tired." I admitted.

We agreed that it was time to turn in. Most of the party had died down as the main event drew everyone way from the side attractions. We were going to stay up and watch the parade, but none of us were really awake, so we just headed to our room.

"Sam?" I said when I crawled into my bed.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for lying to me. I had a good time today." I said with a smile.

"What are you talking about? I didn't..." Sam began.

"Cut the crap, Sam. I heard you and Austin talking about it on the plane."

"Alright, you caught me." Sam replied downtrodden. "Katlyn, I'm glad you had a good time."

I smiled and closed my eyes. This was the first time since I got back that I felt normal. Well, as normal as my life would allow. I thought about the day's events and wondered if Caleb had a good Halloween. I have to tell him about this when things finally do go back to normal.

* * *

I hope everyone had a great Halloween. Despite having to my little brothers and sisters, and having to carry my baby sister around when she got tired, I think it was a good night. If y'all are enjoying the story, be sure to smash that favorite/follow button. If y'all have anything to say be sure to leave a review. Good night and happy Halloween! This is shieldliger001 signing off.


	48. Chapter 48

Hey guys, shield here. I know that it has been a while since I published the last chapter, but I have a great reason. I have a Christmas present coming up for you guys. I don't want to give anything away, so, on to the reviews!

AveragePichu: I used to live in a small town and now I live in a small town surrounded by the big city. The smaller the town the more festive they become. We had parades and trick or treating and games. Halloween was a big deal for many of the in the small town I grew up with. Actually all of the holidays were. I was just bringing that small town spirit into the big towns in the story. I am glad you liked the chapter and am happy that you didn't find any errors! I felt that Katlyn needed a break from the doom and gloom of her mission.

Monpoke: Too bad you don't get to celebrate Halloween. It is probably one of my favorite holidays, until I have to lug my baby sister around when she is too tired to walk while everyone trick or treats. In fact, that's the only reason I don't stay home and watch scary movies. If I did my dad would have to carry her and he doesn't want anymore back problems! I try avoiding dates when it comes to the timeline of the story because it throws me off. Instead of saying the fifth of July, I will just say the beginning of last month. It's something I will have to work on.

* * *

 **No battle plan survives contact with the enemy.**

 **Colin Powell**

* * *

 **Chapter 48**

 **Caleb's POV**

The wind blew through my fur as I ran through the field. The air was cool and crisp as autumn caught up with us. I stopped and sniffed the air.

'Devin has been through here. He won't be too hard to find.' I thought as I started toward the direction his scent had taken.

I heard a twig snap and a muffled curse in the direction of a couple of bushes directly ahead of me. I smirked as I crouched low to the ground. I stalked forward and waited for the right moment to attack. As soon as I was close enough, I sprung into the bush. A flurry of shouts and protests filled the air as I hit my mark. Devin lay there on the ground with me on top of him.

"Alright! Ya, got me! _"_ He yelped as he squirmed to get out from under me. Though I was younger, he was still smaller than me and it was definitely bothering him.

"Hey, you didn't say uncle! _"_ I replied with a laugh.

"I ain't saying uncle. _"_ Devin replied firmly.

"Then I'm not getting off. _"_ I replied with a large grin.

Devin began to grin as his cheeks began to spark. I reared back, which Devin quickly took the advantage. He bounded out from under me and got several feet away.

"I thought you said you weren't getting off. _"_ Devin teased.

"I thought we weren't going to use our powers. _"_ I replied accusingly.

"I said that we wouldn't use moves, I never said that we couldn't use our abilities. _"_ Devin replied smartly.

"You have about as many loopholes as a spaghetti strainer. _"_ I said remembering that was what he had said.

"I have to live up to my reputation. _"_ Devin said with a mock salute.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say. Either way, I caught you so you're it! _"_ I said as I took off in the opposite direction.

"Do you have to run so fast? _"_ Devin called as he chased after me.

"Do you have to be so slow? _"_ I shot back with a grin.

 **Katlyn's POV**

"Come on you guys!" I yelled. "Y'all made us miss our last flight. We need to get out of here!"

"Katlyn, its fine. We are almost there. We aren't going to miss the flight."

"Maybe, but it will be Christmas by the time you guys get a move on. You do know that I hate the cold, right? It's not like the base is in the middle of the city where we can just stay in the Pokémon center till it gets warm."

"I'd say that she is getting excited." Sam remarked.

"Ya think? This mess will finally be over! The sooner she finds Mew the sooner Caleb gets back to semi-normal and the sooner I get back home." Austin said happily.

The airport was fairly crowded, but we made it to the terminal fairly easily. We had to wait about ten minutes before we could actually get onto the plane, but the time seemed to fly, so it felt like we just slid on by.

"So, what is the strategy?" Austin asked. He sounded a bit distressed and overly anxious.

"I have a bag of hidden gear near Viridian City. The base is actually to the west of the town so we won't be going near the actual city after we get the gear. That's good because some of the equipment is slightly illegal for us to have."

"What do you have in the bag?" Sam asked.

"You'll see when we get there." I replied, not wanting to tip anyone off.

"Ok, so we get the gear and we trek out to the base. Then what? How do we get in without being seen?" Sam asked.

"That's where Ember comes in." I replied holding up her Pokéball.

"You guys may not like this, but she is going to put a curse on us. Two of us will be become Pokémon and the other will be made older in order to fit the roll as one of the grunts." I replied. Austin and Sam stared at me with a mixture of disbelief and horror.

"You can't be serious!" Austin shouted.

"That's insane!" Sam yelled. About half the plane turned to stare at us.

"Shut up! You are going to get us caught!" I said through a hushed voice. "Now, I know that it's not an ideal plan, but trust me. It will work."

"I think that year you spent there has caused you to go criminally insane!" said Austin.

"Don't you think you need to choose your words more carefully? Like, I don't know, clinically insane?" Sam asked.

"I did. Criminally insane is what I meant." Austin replied.

"Can you two stop arguing, and listen up for a sec?" I asked irately.

"What you are planning on doing is the exact reason we got into this mess!" Sam exclaimed.

"And what mess was that?" I asked, raising my voice in the process.

"Shush! People are starting to look!" Austin said with his finger in front of his lip.

"The mess I'm talking about is the one that has to do with messing with things you don't understand." Sam replied. "Remember Fort Trell? Remember the hidden tower?"

"Fine! Then what's your big idea!" I shouted angrily.

"Here is an idea. We get your gear, head to the base and use Elweard as camouflage. He uses Aura which can be manipulated to turn things invisible. We sneak in, we get Mew, and we get out. If we run into any problems, we fight our way out." Sam replied.

"That's just stupid! My plan has us using the security cameras! You want to go in blind?"

"Here's an idea, use your Porygon to use the cameras. It's called the virtual Pokémon for a reason!" Sam shouted.

"You two need to shut up now! Everyone is looking!" Austin said. His eyes were practically daggers and his teeth were gritted. He breathed a little to calm himself down, then looked each of us in the eyes. "Now is not the time to argue. We will decide what to do when we land and are out of the city."

"Alright, fine." I huffed.

"Whatever." Sam said, crossing his arms.

"I swear. Watching you two makes me forget that you were ever twenty and you were ever mature enough to be a trainer." Austin sighed.

 **Devin's POV**

"Emily! We have a huge problem!" I yelled as I barreled through the pet door of the Ward residence.

"Devin? What's going on? Is everything ok?" Emily asked.

"Caleb has been… has been… _"_ I began.

"Devin, I can't understand a word you are saying." Emily replied shaking head.

"Where is Maggie? _"_ Emily looked at me with oblivious eyes.

I sighed and began to try and use sign language to get my point across. I sat there jumping up and down, trying desperately to look bigger than I was. I pointed at my tail then held up my paws. Of course my digits didn't spread apart like my fingers so it looked like I only held up my paws.

"I don't understand. Two tails?" Emily asked. I placed my hand on my head and muttered to myself.

"Brand! Where are you? _"_ I yelled impatiently.

The little Cyndaquil crawled out from under and cabinet. I gaped at how such a fat looking creature could have squeezed under a cabinet, but didn't bother asking.

"What do you need, Devin? _"_ Brand asked cheerfully.

"I need you to shoot some fire. _"_ I replied expectantly.

"Why? _"_

"I need her to get Maggie because I can't find her anywhere. _"_ I replied.

"Maggie is outside. You and Caleb were running past her while y'all played tag. _"_

"Just show me where she went! _"_ I demanded.

"Alright, alright. Come on. _"_ Brand said rolling his eyes.

Maggie really wasn't far off. In fact, I ran right past her. Maggie noticed us running her way and stood up. She stretched forward then backward.

"What has you two all excited; where's Caleb at? _"_ she asked as we arrived.

"Caleb was caught by a trainer! _"_ I yelled at her.

Maggie looked as though she was about to faint. _"_ Where were you two at? _"_ she asked.

"We were near the woods. Kind of on the edge actually. He came out of the woods when I tagged Caleb. He caught Caleb before we could get away! _"_ I explained.

"Come, we must find him before his mother and father return. _"_

"Um, guys. What about Emily? We can't just leave her here without telling her. _"_ Brand said timidly.

"We don't have any time to waste. She will just have to stay here. _"_

"I'll just stay here with Emily than. I really couldn't be much help. _"_ Brand replied as he slunk toward the house.

"You will be coming with us and that's final. _"_ Maggie commanded. She picked the little Cyndaquil in her mouth and I began to lead her to the spot where I had last seen Caleb.

Brand struggled in Maggie's mouth and even shot flames out of his back in an effort to get away. Maggie only snorted and rolled her eyes. With the Cyndaquil in her mouth, Maggie couldn't say what she wanted to, meaning she resorted to the next best thing. She began taunting poor Brand through her psychic abilities.

" _That would have worked if I didn't possess the Flash Fire ability."_ she said with a mental laugh.

"Will you leave him alone. We're here. _"_ I said, stopping suddenly.

Maggie dropped Brand on the ground and walked forward a little. She examined the area. It had been trampled slightly by our roughhousing, but otherwise, was untouched.

"I smell a human nearby. _"_ Maggie muttered mostly to herself.

"What are we going to do? _"_ I asked.

"What else? We follow them. _"_ Brand said begrudgingly.

 **Sam's POV**

We sat quietly on the plane for the next few hours. Katlyn was reading a book, while Austin watched a movie. I just skimmed through my Pokédex. It didn't take long since I had barely used the thing since I started. I sighed lightly and thought on all that had happened.

"You know, this wasn't how I imagined my journey turning out. I thought that we would go to Lavender Town, fix your brother, then go on to collecting gym badges."

"It's not like I planned for this to happen." Katlyn huffed looking up from her book for a second.

"I didn't say that. I was just saying that it wasn't how I imagined." I replied.

"Life rarely is." Katlyn replied, staring intently at her book again.

"What are you reading?" I asked.

"Just a book."

"Well, gee, guess I missed that one." I replied sarcastically. "Let me see it!"

Katlyn easily moved the book out of reach as I lunged at it. "Can't I read something without you being nosy?"

I grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of my head. "I was just curious."

"I wish you would stop being curious." Katlyn muttered.

I sighed and looked at my feet. I was kind of upset that Katlyn's change in attitude had only been temporary. I was hoping that she would be the same as before. I guess sometimes people just change.

 **Caleb's POV**

I was in a Pokéball. The familiar feeling of being in the past hit me as I looked around my house. Katlyn, Mom, and Dad were by the Christmas tree, unwrapping gifts. Mom looked at me with a soft smile then motioned for me to sit by her.

I felt small and looked to see that I had taken the form of myself from this memory. I was only about ten when this happened. It was the Christmas before I left for my journey.

Mom handed me a gift wrapped in bright red paper. She smiled as I unwrapped it. It was the Pokéball that I was going to use to catch MK when we first met. I looked at it with a mix of nostalgia and disgust. I placed the Pokéball on the table. Before I could say anything. My vision was flooded with red.

"Hi Vulpix! Welcome to the team!" a boy a little older than Austin greeted.

"Great, Maggie is going to kill me. _"_ I sighed out loud.

"Who's Maggie? _"_ another voice asked. I looked around then spotted the Pichu clinging to the boy's shoulder.

"Who are you and why did catch me? _"_ I demanded.

"I'm Ell and this is Jason. We caught you because you stayed in the Pokéball. _"_ Ell replied with smile.

"You do realize that you just caught me on private property right? Not only that, but I already have a trainer! _"_ I said heatedly.

"If you already have a trainer then how did we catch you? Everyone knows that you can't catch a Pokémon that has already been caught. _"_

"My Pokéball was damaged while we were traveling. My trainer and I returned home so he could get it fixed. Since it's broken, I can be caught again. _"_ I lied smoothly.

"How do I know that you're telling the truth? _"_ Ell replied suspiciously.

"You caught me on my trainer's property for one. We own everything from the highway thataway to the fence that way. _"_

Ell, was about to say something when a loud, rustling noise reached our hearing. The boy who had caught me looking in the direction of the noise. His hand hovered over a Pokéball. Seconds later Devin, Brand, and Maggie burst through the brush!

"Maggie! Devin! I can't tell you how glad I am to see you! _"_

"Nice to see you too, jerk. _"_ Brand muttered.

" _You both need to leave the property of the Ward family. If you do not, I will deal with you myself. Believe me, you will not like how I deal with trespassers."_ Maggie spoke. The trainer seemed spooked by the Maggie's warning but Ell seemed unaffected by it. Instead, she was staring directly at Devin.

"Come on Ell. We better go." the trainer muttered.

"Maggie, you forgot about the Pokéball! _"_ I whined as a red beam hit me and began pulling me into the Pokéball.

 **Maggie's POV**

I couldn't believe that I forgot that small detail as the trainer ran off. I chased after the trainer and the Pichu as they ran off. I had to get to them before they made it off the property. If they did, then I would have no proof that they caught Caleb on our land.

"Ell, wait! _"_ Devin yelled. The other Pichu stared at him completely bewildered.

"Devin? _"_ the other Pichu asked as we ran.

"Yeah! It's me! _"_ Devin replied.

Ell tapped her trainer on the shoulder and pointed to us. He apparently thought we were going to attack him as he grabbed a Pokéball and tossed it. A Pidgeotto flew out of the Pokéball. The trainer turned around and got into a battle stance. He stood in front balance with his left leg in front and his right leg behind him. His torso and head leaned forward. I saw Maggie roll her eyes at this. I gave her a questioning look.

"New trainers always do that. Most experienced trainers have learned that by standing in a "battle stance" they are more or less killing their backs. _"_ Maggie explained.

'So that's why Austin said he would never do that.' I thought as Maggie launched a column of fire at the large bird.

The bird squawked loudly but managed to stay in the air. It managed a charge at Maggie, gaining more speed than I thought was possible in such a short distance. Maggie easily jumped to the side of the attack and countered the counter with an Iron Tail. The bird squawked louder then passed out.

"Aw crap, Pidgeotto!" the boy shouted as he returned his Pokémon. In the seconds that it took to return the Pokémon, Maggie got in between the trainer and the fence.

"We said we would leave!" the trainer yelled out of fear.

" _You forgot something. You caught one the Ward family's Pokémon. They do not believe in Pokéballs so he would be considered open to capture. However this is private property so you are not allowed to capture him."_ Maggie replied sternly.

"That's not what Caleb said. He said that his Pokéball was broken and he had to get it fixed before he could continue on his journey. _"_ Ell spoke up smugly, easily calling my bluff.

"There weren't any signs anywhere. If this was private property, then there would be some signs. Besides, the fence is falling apart! We thought it was abandoned. We will be happy to leave but we caught the Vulpix fair and square!" the trainer retorted.

Maggie gaped at the response then shot a glare at the Pokéball which contained Caleb. Maggie took a step forward to explain further but Ell jumped down and into a battle position.

"You really don't want to battle me. _"_ Maggie warned.

"I really think I do. _"_ Ell snarled.

"Ell, stop this! You know this isn't right! _"_ I yelled hoping to persuade her.

"Shut up, Devin! I really have nothing to say to you! _"_ she shouted back.

Stunned, I closed my mouth. I didn't know why Ell was acting like this. She had some sort of grudge against me, yet I didn't even know what I did!

"Maggie, let me take care of this. _"_ I said.

"Thank you can handle it? _"_ Maggie asked with a grim smile.

"Yeah _…_ besides, she was my friend. I don't know what happened but I need to fix it. _"_ I replied.

Ell hesitated a little, but quickly recovered. She looked me dead in the eyes, anger smoldering in the once happy eyes.

"Ell, I don't know what happened to you after I left, but you have to understand, I had no choice. _"_ I began.

 **Austin's POV**

The plane was on its final approach. We began gathering our backpacks and placing them back in the overhead bins. Katlyn was staring out the window as we did so. She seemed thoughtful, but also nostalgic.

"You know, the last time I was through here, Caleb had been just been turned into a Pokémon. We stopped at a Pokémon center, which was raided by Team Rocket. They were after Zan because he was one of their test subjects." Katlyn said absentmindedly.

"I guess you didn't think that you would end your journey so close to where it started." I replied.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are on the final approach of the flight. Please secure all luggage and fasten your seat belts for the duration of the landing." a flight attendant announced.

We all took our seats and waited for the plane to reach the tarmac. The plane's slow descent made it feel like an eternity, but eventually the wheels of the large aircraft touched the ground. Several seconds passed as the plane slowed down. The plane slowed to a crawl as the pilot soothed it into the terminal area.

"Ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for flying with Air Kanto. The local time is 2:35 p.m. and the temperature is a chilly 50° Fahrenheit…" the captain announced. I drowned him out as we began the deplaning process.

We quickly made it to the outside of the airport. Katlyn immediately took the lead. We made it through town at a record pace, but showed no sign of slowing down.

Finally, Katlyn stopped. She easily ducked into a small cave that was hidden from view. We followed her inside, having a slightly harder time than Katlyn as we were bigger.

The inside, the cave was actually pretty spacious. The entrance had been so overgrown that it had made the cave seem small. The cave was dry but the sound of water could be heard from further back in the cave. Katlyn waited for us to get over our awe before we continued through the cave.

The back over the cave was even bigger than the front. A small underground lake sparkled and shimmered as Katlyn's flashlight fell on it.

"This is amazing!" I exclaimed.

The beauty of the cave was uncontested. Some of the walls glittered like gold as water trickled down them. Sections of the walls were a rosy pink while other sections were a turquoise blue. Three glittering boulders rose from the ground just before you reached the lake. The boulders to the sides were a pure white like new teeth. The one in the center was darkened as if burned. In fact, the area around the middle boulder seemed to be burned as well. That didn't away from the beauty. In fact, it added to it. The lake beyond was the purest blue I had ever seen. The ceiling was fractured in sections, allowing just enough light to dance amongst the small ripples in the water.

"It is pretty, but that's not why we are here." Katlyn replied as she walked to one side of the cave. "Voice command!" she yelled. Me and Sam looked at each other.

Katlyn waited a couple of seconds then gave out loud sigh. "Stupid piece of crap. This is the best, they said. Won't break on you, they said. Kanto parts, Unova parts, it's all made in Johto! Voice command!"

"Say a command." a robotic voice replied.

"Power off light refractor." Katlyn replied.

"This command requires level five security clearance. Please submit level five clearance code." the voice replied.

"I am the one who will set things right." Katlyn whispered softly.

"Clearance accepted. Welcome back Kelly Lear." the voice submitted. Katlyn flinched as the sound of a machine shutting down filled the air.

A second later, a small tripod was sitting next to where Katlyn was standing. There was an odd device on top and a duffle bag underneath. Sam and I crowded around the bag as Katlyn knelt down to open it.

 **Devin's POV**

Ell stared me down. Her eyes ablaze with anger, but there was something else as well. Sadness perhaps? Her cheeks began to spark then she erupted into a full blown Thunder attack. A move like that should have fried her! I sidestepped the move with the beauty of a Muk. I stared at Ell, stunned at what she had accomplished. She stood in the exact same spot, without a single burn on her fur.

"How did you do that? _"_ I asked.

"You don't deserve an answer, traitor! _"_ Ell shot back.

"Ell, please stop! I don't want to hurt you! _"_ I yelled back.

I could feel a tear trying to work its way to my eye, but I held it in. I couldn't show weakness, not anymore. I stood up as tall as I could and took a deep breath. Ell rushed toward me. I closed my eyes and felt the electricity building inside of me. The power began to burn, but I continued to build up the power. Eons later, I was ready. My eyes snapped open and I released the blast of electricity. Ell stopped dead in her tracks as the massive amount of electricity flowed through her.

She looked at me out of pain, surprise, and horror. I looked at myself, I was covered in blackened fur. Small patches of fur was missing, the skin charred. The actual pain was distant; as if it were a memory of itself.

I forced my own pain away and stared at Ell. She looked a little better than I did. She had plenty of darkened fur and some patches of missing fur as well; The skin underneath, blistered.

"Why did you use your electricity? _"_ Ell whispered almost as quietly as the light breeze. _"_ You where never good at controlling it. _"_

"Why, did you use yours? You can't aim to save your life. You never could. _"_ I retorted with a quiet laugh.

"Huh, I guess you are right about that. _"_ Ell replied, a small smile tugging at the sides of her mouth. _"_ Just to be clear, I am still mad at you for what you did. _"_

"I still don't know what I did. _"_ I replied.

I collapsed seconds later. I had used up all of the electricity I had stored when I had attacked, leaving me pretty much completely drained. My vision faded to black, unable to keep conscious.

* * *

Hope y'all enjoyed that chapter. Like I said earlier, I have Christmas present for all of you that I am working on. Because of that, the next chapter of ANA may be out late as well. If y'all are enjoying the story, be sure to smash that favorite/follow button. If y'all have anything to say be sure to leave a review or PM me. This is shieldliger001 signing off!


	49. Chapter 49

Well guys, I'm back with another chapter of OMAA. I finished this chapter pretty fast compared to the last one. I like how this one turned out and you do as well. On to the reviews!

AveragePichu: I have been using the trainer as more or less as a way to lighten the mood.

Monpoke: You will see what they chose in this chapter, but let me say that I will be doing something unexpected in the next chapter. At least, I hope. Ell is the same as the one in ANA. I went back to check the last chapter and it was a mix of Devin and Maggie's POV.

Caitou zzzzzz: I am glad you liked the battle. I enjoyed writing that one especially because of the emotion that was in it. As you will see, the Pokéball won't affect anything.

* * *

 **We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.**

 **E. M. Forster**

 **Chapter 49**

 **Devin's POV**

A dull headache woke me and my senses slowly returned. Slowly getting into a sitting position, I blinked my eyes a little, trying to get rid of the blurriness.

"Are you ok, Devin? _"_ Maggie asked.

"Y-yeah, I think so. What happened? _"_ I asked in response.

"You and your friend got into a little scuffle. You passed out as a result. Your friend went off to find some berries to help you recover. _"_ Maggie replied.

"Maggie, where is Brand? I don't see him anywhere. _"_

"He ran off when the fighting started so he could get Emily. Especially after what I did to the trainer over there. _"_ Maggie said as she motioned to the boy. The kid was almost hyperventilating.

"Maggie, what did you do to him? _"_ I asked as my eyes narrowed.

"I cursed him. Every time he moves or says something, he turns a little more into a Pokémon. _"_

"Is that your favorite curse or something? _"_ I demanded out of exasperation.

"Not really, but it works for when I need it to. Like you and Caleb for example. Caleb wanted some freedom and I gave it to him. You needed to get out of the house, so I got you out of the house. _"_

"I guess your right, but it is starting to become a habit for you. _"_ I muttered.

"Don't worry, once Caleb is back to normal, I won't do it again. _"_ Maggie promised.

"Like I said, it is becoming a habit. _"_ I deadpanned.

 **Katlyn's POV**

"So, which plan are we going with?" I asked as we stood around the equipment I stowed away. "My plan, that is sure to work, or Sam's plan which may work, but will have some major hurdles to jump."

"I still want to go with my plan. I just don't like the idea of being older right now. I'm the only one who hasn't been affected by a permanent curse, which makes me the obvious choice for that part of your plan." Sam replied.

"You both know what I am voting for so that means the decision is up to you, Austin." I said.

Sam stared at Austin with pleading eyes. I knew that my plan asked a lot from him, but my plan asked for a lot out of us as well.

"I know that you don't like Katlyn's plan at all. The fact is that I don't like it either, but I can't see your plan really working, Sam. There are too many unknowns that could cause us to be captured. I'm sorry, she may be insane, but I'm with Katlyn on this one." Austin decided.

"Well, at least I tried." Sam sighed.

"Now that we have a game plan, let's get busy." I said as I began tossing the uniform and other gear at Sam. As soon as he had his stuff I got Ember's Pokéball out and released the Ninetales.

" _Katlyn, I told you that I wouldn't go through with your plan without the other's consent."_ the Ninetales spoke as soon as she saw the cave that we were in.

"I got their consent Ember. We are going through with our plan." I replied with an apologetic smile. Ember was the biggest proponent against my plan for two reasons: One, she wasn't the best with curses, unlike her sister. And two, she thought it was too dangerous.

" _Alright than, Samuel, I am going to need you to come to with me."_ Ember said as she began to walk away.

"Why can't you do it here?" Sam asked.

" _Because, I am going to need you to take your clothes off. I don't think you want Austin and Katlyn to see that."_ she said dismissively.

"Ok, good point."

We waited for around five minutes or so before they came back. Sam looked so different I didn't hardly recognize him.

"Holy crap! Sam? That is you, right?" Austin asked.

The tall, muscular young man in front of us nodded. He was obviously feeling self-conscious. Sam already had on the black uniform and gear belt. The only thing he was missing was the gun holster that was supposed to be on his right hip. I walked over to where I had gotten the gear and pulled out a cloth bag. I walked back to Sam and handed it to him.

"You're a cop's kid. I hope you know how to use this. Even if you don't you will have me, Austin, and Jack to help you." I said.

Sam opened the bag and pulled out a holster which held a P-320 set in a 40 s&w. He looked at the gun with surprise.

"My dad, had one of these set as a .357. He said that it was the best gun he ever had." Sam said with a surprisingly deep voice. He flinched a little, but recovered and attached the holster to his hip.

" _Now it is both you and Katlyn's turn, Austin. Is there any kind of Pokémon you would prefer?"_ Ember asked.

"A Pikachu. I have experience with being a Pikachu." Austin said quickly.

" _That is doable. Katlyn, what about you? Do you prefer anything?"_

"Anything, but a Muk, Grimer, or Magikarp." I replied.

" _Very well then. Please, both of you place your hands on one of my tails."_ Ember directed.

 **Emily's POV**

"Brand! Slow down! Why are you running so fast?" I panted as I chased after the Cyndaquil. Brand stopped for a second to let me catch up but was soon off again.

" _Emily, it is good that you are here. We have apprehended the trainer who has captured Caleb."_ Maggie said telepathically.

"What? Caleb was captured? When did that happen?" I asked.

" _It happened about an hour ago. Devin and Brand tried telling you earlier."_ Maggie replied.

"So is that him? The trainer?"

" _He thinks that if he moves, he will turn into a Pokémon. Of course I did not actually do that, but he doesn't know that._ _Oh, and neither does Devin. I thought it would be funny to mess with him a little_ _."_ Maggie replied with a smirk.

"Ok, so I am here now. What do you need me to do?"

" _I need you to take your brother back to the house. He got a little banged up when he fought."_ Maggie replied.

"Devin was fighting? Why didn't you stop him? He doesn't have a shred of talent for fighting as a Pokémon!" I yelled.

" _He did great. In fact, he was the one who stopped the trainer from getting away. You and Austin both need to give your brother a little more credit. He is not as helpless as you two think."_ Maggie lectured.

I sighed and shook my head. "I know but it's hard especially since all of this began."

" _I know it is hard. When Lawrence first left with Caleb, I thought that I was going to die from worry. When I heard that Lawrence and Caleb got their first gym badge, I thought they had just gotten lucky. As they got stronger, the worry started to melt away. We'll continue this conversation later. You better get your brother indoors."_

"Alright." I murmured softly.

 **Sam's POV**

I traveled through the forest in silence. Austin was placed inside a Pokéball while Katlyn flew about giving me instruction when needed. Jack sat perched on my shoulder, also giving pointers when needed. Ember stayed back in the cave with MK and Elweard while we took along Basil, Lawrence, Zan, and Katlyn's Porygon. It was weird having more than six Pokémon, but Katlyn insisted that we needed them. Elweard had protested, but Austin demanded that he stayed with MK to make absolute sure the Mew did not try following them. Since, Elweard was one of the most powerful Pokémon, he was chosen as the bodyguard.

Katlyn was in the form of a Fletchling. She was enjoying herself though as she fluttered about through the trees. She was enjoying herself a little too much if you asked me.

The longer we walked the less glee Katlyn showed. I knew we were getting close when Katlyn fluttered down from the trees and landed on my shoulder.

Katlyn chirped something that I didn't understand. I gave her a questioning look to which she rolled her eyes.

She chirped something to Jack who then nodded. Jack jumped off my shoulder and landed on the ground. He waved for me to follow carefully. Crouching down, I snuck toward the edge of the forest.

There was a large clearing, about the length of three or four football fields. The was a run down chain link fence that surrounded the outside perimeter of the clearing. An old runway covered the middle of the clearing. A few derelict buildings were scattered throughout the clearing on either side of the runway.

"This is it?" I asked out of disbelief. Katlyn nodded and chirped. "Alright than, let's sneak inside. Where do I need to go?"

 **Caleb's POV**

Maggie got me out of the Pokéball and brought me home. The boy who had caught me, followed us and kept apologizing. Maggie invited him inside and Emily went about finding something she could offer our guest.

" _The truth, Chris, is that Caleb is a very special person. He is actually human, just like you. He is a Vulpix right now so he can have some freedom while he waits for his sister to return."_ Maggie explained.

"So, I caught a human?" Chris asked, a look of horror filled his eyes.

" _In a sense, yes. Though it is not your fault since you didn't know you had captured a human."_ Maggie replied.

"Oh, Caleb, I'm sorry. If I had know I wouldn't have captured you." Chris apologized.

"It was a misunderstanding, kid. It's alright. _"_ I yipped.

"Maggie! We need to change Caleb back now! His parents are home early!" Emily yelled.

"Of course they are. _"_ I growled out of frustration.

" _Chris, I need you to go into the back room with Emily and stay there until I say otherwise. Do you understand?"_ Maggie asked.

"Alright, but I don't really get why." Chris muttered as he left the room.

"Caleb, are you ready? _"_

"As ready as I'll ever be since I'll be completely helpless again. _"_ I muttered.

" _Alright, Emily, get Teresa and tell her that when I'm done, she needs to rock Caleb."_ she ordered as she returned her attention to me. _"_ Caleb, you need to pretend to be asleep. Do you understand? _"_

"Yes mother. _"_ I said with a roll of my eyes.

 **MK's POV**

Floating around the cave, I was searching for anything that I could do. Elweard, who was not happy to begin with, stared out at the small lake and growled. Ember also looked out at the water, but it was more out of worry than it was anger.

"Whatcha doing? _"_ I asked as boredom finally took control.

"None of your concern. Wait over by that rock. _"_ Elweard replied coldly.

"Elweard, leave the child alone. I know that you want to help your trainer, but he told you not to come so you could protect him. _"_ Ember scolded. Elweard just turned away angrily. He knew that Ember was right, though he wouldn't admit it.

Seeing that Elweard wouldn't give me the time of day, I went to Ember. She seemed to be a little more levelheaded at the moment. I floated around her for a few seconds, but didn't get a response.

"Why are you just looking at the water? _"_ I asked.

"There really isn't much else to do aside from worrying. _"_ Ember replied softly.

"You could play with me. _"_ I suggested as I did a somersault in mid-air.

"I'm sorry MK, I really don't want to play right now. Why don't you play by those rocks over there? _"_

"I really don't want to. This cave brings back bad memories; especially over there. _"_ I replied glumly.

Ember peered at me with keen interest. _"_ What kind of memories? _"_

"This is where Caleb and I first met. I was over there. By that middle rock. _"_ I replied. Ember's eyes widened as what I said took her by surprise.

"Here? It happened here? _"_ she asked.

"Yeah, I wasn't able to move much back then. I was upset. Mom had gone off to find some food. I was crying, and then there was Caleb and Lawrence. Caleb thought I was abandon and wanted to help. Mom came back and tried killing Caleb. Lawrence saved Caleb so mom decided to transform him instead. _"_ I explained. _"_ Everything that happened to Caleb was my fault. _"_

"You can't actually believe that. It wasn't your fault. Caleb wanted to help. Your mother saw him as a threat. What happened was no one's fault. _"_

"I guess, but that doesn't make the memories any less painful. _"_

"You know what? I think I do want to play. You're it! _"_ Ember said cheerfully as she darted away.

'Finally, something to do!' I thought as I gave chase.

 **Devin's POV**

"Do you like Chris? He is treating you well. Right? _"_ I asked as we hid in one of the guest rooms.

"He's ok. He cares about us, but he is a little impulsive. _"_ Ell whispered.

"That's good I guess. So, what have you been doing? _"_

"We went from Pallet Town to Viridian City and challenged the gym there. Got annihilated pretty easily. We ended up traveling to Pewter City and we won that gym thanks to Ivan, Chris' Bulbasaur. Then we went to Cerulean City and beat that gym. It was easy since it was me and Ivan fighting against a bunch of water types. _"_ Ell replied.

"I have been helping Austin and Emily a lot. We haven't fought any gyms, but we have explored a lot. _"_ I replied.

"At least you have been keeping busy. _"_ Ell said coldly.

"Look, I know that we were supposed to escape together. Believe me when I say that I had no control over leaving. I wanted to get you out, but the truth is that we couldn't. _"_

Ell stared at me for several seconds then sighed. _"_ I know. That doesn't mean I forgive you, but I know. _"_

 **Katlyn's POV**

Sam easily got over the fence and into the building that held the entrance to the base. Since he was nervous it took him a minute to get inside since he fumbled with the key card.

Once inside, we stepped into an elevator and proceeded into the base. As soon as the door opened, Sam walked rigidly into the hallway.

"He is acting too tense. He needs to relax a little. _"_ Jack whispered.

"I know. What would you like me to do about it? He doesn't understand me anymore. I forgot about that to be honest. _"_ I replied.

"That would have been helpful. _"_ Jack added.

"I know. I can't help that I forgot. We will just have to make do. _"_

I placed a wing on Sam's neck and prayed that he would calm down a little. He was still tense, but he had calmed slightly.

"You can do this. Just stay calm. _"_ I whispered into his ear. That did the trick as I felt the tension escape his muscles.

"Thanks, Katlyn." Sam whispered back.

Sam continued through the hallways. They were sterile, white hallways with fluorescent lighting the base reminded me of a hospital. There were no maps, making the base hard to navigate. Since Jack and I spent an entire year here, we were familiar with the layout allowing us to direct Sam when he needed it.

We saw a few Rocket grunts, but none paid us any attention. Sam tensed every time we walked passed a new grunt. I couldn't blame him. They all had Pokémon and most had a sidearm at the very least. Doors lined the hallways. Names of hallways like research and development, Bio-science, barracks, and advanced systems gave us pointers as to where we were we needed to go. Of course, navigating was the easy part. Actually, the hard part was finding the right lab and/or holding cell.

The first place we searched were the labs of bio-science. It seemed to be the best place to look since Mew was a genetic marvel. Sam was posing as a new grunt on orientation. Giovanni, the Rocket boss thought that an orientation would help new Rockets get around, at least that was the cover story. The orientation was actually to show what would happen if you disobeyed orders. Often times, the orientations showed cruel experiments or torture of prisoners.

The first labs showed us terribly treated prisoners. They were being used to test different toxins and serums. Most had already died or were dying, but some seemed to be physically healthy. Those prisoners were frothing at the mouth, screaming, and yelling like mad men. By the time we left, Sam looked as though he was going to be sick. Unfortunately, Jack and I weren't even phased.

"That was awful. I don't know how either of you could have survived being here for a year." Sam muttered almost inaudibly.

"It was like being in a nightmare. _"_ I replied sadly.

We continued with the tour and found nothing. I was certain that Mew would be in one of the bio-science labs. It really did surprise me. Finally, we made it to the last lab on the bio-science corridor. I was dreading this last laboratory; bio-tech lab 24. I had gotten to know Dr. Mitchel quite well when I was here. He was not a cruel man, but he would follow orders if they were given.

"Ah, you must be one of the new recruits, I'm Dr. Julius Mitchel. I am the head scientist of the lab 24. My colleagues and I research different applications developed by the other twenty three bio-labs." Mitchel said; there was fake enthusiasm in his voice.

"I'm Samuel Mattlov, and these are my partners, Fletchling and Pichu." Sam introduced.

I cringed when he gave his real name. I hoped it would go unnoticed by Mitchel. He was the one who had helped get Marik into our group when we had first started.

Mitchel, to my relief didn't seem to notice, however there did seem to be a flicker of something in his eyes. I couldn't tell what it was, but I knew that we had to be more careful.

"Right now, we are working on a project that is of great importance. The first volunteer will be here any second. I'll gladly introduce you to him as soon as he arrives." Mitchel continued.

"What kind of project is it? I heard rumors that you were working on a Mew." Sam asked not so subtly.

Mitchel laughed. "There is a Mew but I am not working on that particular project at this moment. I must finish my other projects before I start a new one. It wouldn't be good if I got behind because I took on too many projects."

"That's a shame. I really wanted to see the legendary Mew." Sam said trying to sound disappointed.

"I'll tell you what, come back here at fourteen hundred hours and I'll let you see Mew. That way you will get done with your orientation. You should get an hour break before you need to report for your first assignment."

"Thanks Dr. Mitchel! That would be great!" Sam exclaimed.

"It's no problem. Now, let's finish this part of the orientation. Lieutenant Charles, you may come in now."

As the door opened, my heart stopped. It was him. The man who had taken Mew from the forgotten tower. There was something different about him. His scent was confusing. He smelled human, but he also smelled like something else. Something I couldn't place my finger er talon on it.

"Lieutenant, this is Samuel Mattlov, one of the new recruits." Mitchel introduced courteously.

'We are so screwed.' I thought. Apparently Sam was thinking the same thing because he had tensed up all over again. If the Lieutenant knew who Sam was he didn't let on. Instead, he offered Sam his hand. Sam shook it rigidly.

"Now, let's begin." Dr. Mitchel said while clasping his hands.

 **Teresa's POV**

Caleb didn't react well to being rocked. He acted fussy and screeched quite a bit, but after a few moments, he quieted down and fell asleep. I sighed and handed him off to his mother and went upstairs.

Devin was in the guest room with Ell, Emily, and now Chris. He and Ell had a lot to catch up on. That much, I was certain. As I peeked in the room a bolt of electricity nearly hit me.

"What is going on in here? _"_ I demanded.

Ell and Devin peeked up from where they were lying and gave me a wavering smile. I looked at each one expectantly, but neither one seemed interested in telling me what was happening.

"Do I need to talk to your brother when he gets back, Devin? _"_ I asked with a small smirk. The last thing Devin wanted was for his brother to get involved.

"We were just playing a game. _"_ Devin mumbled.

"You were shooting electricity while you were in the house! That is probably the dumbest thing I have seen you do. What if you caught the house on fire? What would you have done then? _"_ I scolded. Devin shrugged and looked down at his feet.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. _"_ I muttered.

"It better not or else you won't be doing anything for a week. _"_ I warned.

"What was that all about, Teresa?" Emily asked as she and Chris made it upstairs.

"Oh, Devin and Ell were getting into mischief again. Just like old times." I replied with a shake of my head.

"I should have figured as much." Emily said while rolling her eyes.

 **Elweard's POV**

I couldn't take it any longer. While Ember and MK were playing, I headed for the exit. I had to help my master. That was the duty I was charged with and I would not abandon it.

Making it outside was easy. Tracking them was easy. Getting inside the hideout? That was hard. As far as I could tell, someone with a card key had to open the door that led inside the base. I didn't have a key which meant I had to wait. Unfortunately, at this moment, patience is not a strong suite.

Hours passed and not a soul could be seen. I paced in the underbrush as I waited. Not really caring about the slight sounds I was making. Finally, after three or four hours, a truck came into view. It was your standard white moving truck. I crouched down and watched it approach.

A man jumped from the cab and walked toward the side of an old building. He opened what looked like a rusted, old electrical panel. He began to fiddle with it and soon there was a loud grinding sound. Taking that as my cue, I dashed forward with Extreme Speed and jumped atop the truck.

The top of the truck had a better view of the area. The cracked pavement seemed to be shifting upward. The sound of loud machinery grinding assaulted my ears. Soon the sounds stopped and two slabs of metal and pointed straight into the sky. The truck started up again and began inside.

 **Katlyn's POV**

We finished the tour and headed back to the lab. As we walked back, Sam quietly released Porygon. Porygon chirped cheerfully, then disappeared into a nearby terminal.

"Everything is going to plan. _"_ Jack muttered.

"Yeah, but you know what they say, no plan survives contact with the enemy. _"_ I muttered back.

Sam, oblivious to our conversation, continued down the hall. He waited a few seconds outside the door. Fear filled the air as he waited. I couldn't blame him. This place had a certain air about that made one want to run as fast as one could. I nudged him to keep moving. He looked at me for a split second and nodded.

 **Lawrence's POV**

I felt the time getting close. I didn't know how I knew. I just knew. I walked through the house where me and Caleb grew up. I stopped when I saw Zan standing in the living room.

"I forget that you can do that. _"_ I said startling the older Jolteon.

"I don't know why I am so jumpy. _"_ Zan replied having relaxed a little.

"Is it because you are worried about Katlyn? _"_

"That and I am worried about this whole plan. A lot can go wrong. _"_ Zan replied, his voice crisp and unobstructed.

"I'm not used to hearing your voice. _"_ I said trying to change the subject.

"I know. That is why I stay in the Pokéball so much. _"_ Zan replied with a smirk.

"Everything will be alright; right? _"_ I asked.

"I want to say yes, but Murphy's Law must happen. _"_ Zan replied glumly.

We stood in the living room and waited. Soon we were joined by two more members, Austin and Basilisk. They too were worried.

"It's a good thing that Katlyn didn't go inside a Pokéball, what with the six Pokémon limit and all. _"_ Austin said to break the silence.

"It wouldn't have mattered if she was in a Pokéball or not. Rockets have a way to circumvent the government, especially when it comes to simple things like that. _"_ Zan replied.

"I feel that the mission isss getting ready to be over. _"_ Basil hissed. He sounded completely neutral.

"Let's hope you are right and we aren't needed. _"_ Austin replied.

* * *

As always I hope you enjoyed the chapter. If you have anything to say feel free to leave a comment or pm me. If you are enjoying the story, be sure to smash that favorite/follow button. Also guys, be sure to check out my new YouTube channel Modern Life and Gaming. It is a channel where I play all kinds of games and I will be adding other videos as well. Including welding videos and forging videos! This is Shieldliger001 signing off.


	50. Chapter 50

Hey guys, welcome back! I have to admit that I am getting a little sad since this story is almost over. I would say that it has probably two more chapters left. Anyways, on to the review.

Matan1998: When someone you hold dear is in danger, you often times do rash things to ensure that they remain safe. That was what I was trying to do.

* * *

 **Darkness comes. In the middle of it, the future looks blank. The temptation to quit is huge. Don't. You are in good company... You will argue with yourself that there is no way forward. But with God, nothing is impossible. He has more ropes and ladders and tunnels out of pits than you can conceive. Wait. Pray without ceasing. Hope.**

 **John Piper**

* * *

 **Chapter 50**

 **Katlyn's POV**

Nervousness swept over me as we stood outside the door. I thought about every possible way that this could go wrong, which made me even more stressed out. Jack seemed to be about the same. He was unconsciously clenching and then releasing his paws.

"It will be alright. _"_ I said, trying to reassure the small mouse Pokémon.

"I know but I feel like something bad is about to happen. This room gave use plenty of nightmares while we were here. _"_ Jack replied.

"Yeah, it did, but that was then and this is now. We will get through this. _"_ I replied.

"Alright guys, here goes nothing." Sam muttered as he presses the button to open the door. "Doctor Mitchel? I here to finish...ack!"

We were instantly engulfed in an ambush. Five or six Rockets had tackled Sam to the ground. Jack and I both tried to get them off by using our attacks, but they seemed ineffectual. Sam screamed and yelled and fought, but quantity out weighed quality. As Sam fought, he yelled for me and Jack to go. I didn't want to leave him so I continued to fight, but Jack pulled me out the door by my wing. He ran through halls as I flew. Tears streaked across my face as we ran.

 **Sam's POV**

"What is the meaning of this?" I yelled as I was held down.

"Mr. Mattlov, it was very careless of you to use your actual name when sneaking in here." Dr. Mitchel chided as he looked through several charts.

"I knew I slipped up." I murmured.

"I must say that I am surprised you made it this far. If I hadn't been informed by the good lieutenant here, I probably would not have noticed." the doctor replied.

"So what happens now? Are you going to torture me?" I asked as my eyes narrowed.

"Goodness, no. I wouldn't dream of torturing a child. We are going to revert you to your actually self." Mitchel replied with a small laugh. "Gentlemen, if you would please place him in the restraining chair."

The grunts lifted me up and dragged me to a chair that was in a separate room. The room was separated from the other by a single hatch door, and had a large viewing window. They threw me on top of the chair and began to tighten down the straps. Once they had finished, Charles ordered the grunts out of the room. They seemed disappointed.

"Now what?" I asked. I wanted to say something witty, but nothing came to mind.

"Now we calibrate the machine and get to work. That Ninetales curse you have will be as good as gone in a few minutes."

"Only a Ninetales can get ride of a curse, ya kook." I derided.

"Wrong again, my young friend. Ninetales can only give them, but, with the right amount of coercion, a curse can be, shall we say, transferred from one subject to another."

Mitchel flipped a few switches on a panel and stared intently at the readouts. He walked to another panel and did the same thing.

"Are you ready, Sam? I must warn you, this may feel a little painful. I originally designed this chamber for my grandson so I had tried to make it as painless as possible. Fortunately for me, unfortunately for my colleagues, my grandson was returned to normal so the machine hasn't been tested."

"You are one sadistic man, you know that?" I yelled.

"Look, I am really sorry about this. I hate doing this to young people such as yourself, but Giovanni has already proved that he could reach my family. I will not allow that to happen again." Mitchel replied darkly as he initiated the machine.

 **Elweard's POV**

The vehicle bay doors closed behind us. The truck I was on maneuvered into a loading dock and shut off. Several people walked out of a door and rolled up the loading bay doors. The driver and passenger got out and opened the back of the truck.

Taking advantage of the distraction, I slid off the truck and made myself invisible. I made it past the people unloading the truck easily enough, sighed when I had found a way into the main portion of the base. I then extended my aura sensing to the fullest it could go. Unfortunately, being underground made aura sense unreliable at best. Anything outside thirty feet was blurry or distorted. Deciding to take my chances, I went deeper into the base.

 **Katlyn's POV**

"Jack! What are we going to do? _"_ I asked with a sob. My plan was going down the tubes and there was not a thing I could do about it.

"Let's get to a computer and talk to your Porygon. _"_ Jack suggested.

"Good, idea. _"_ I replied, wiping away the tears.

It took us a little while to find a computer. When we did, I flitted up to the keyboard and pecked at the keys. We agreed that we would type in a password if we needed help. I typed it in and waited. The terminal began buzz loudly. It glowed and then the Porygon popped out.

"Trainer Katlyn, how may this unit be of service." the Porygon beeped.

"We need to see what is happening in bio lab 24. _"_ I said quickly. The Porygon nodded and floated back inside the computer. The screen flickered and a second later the lab appeared on the screen.

The scene was strangely quiet. Lieutenant Charles stood next to a computer console and looked through a glass window. Dr. Mitchel studied something on a computer screen. Sam was nowhere in sight.

"Can you show us what is in that room? _"_ I asked.

"This unit is unable to access that room's security cameras." the Porygon said.

"Can you locate Mew? _"_ Jack asked.

"All files relating to the legendary, Mew have been sealed and/or redacted. No definitive information is available on main servers."

"Great, I guess we are back to square one without our back up. _"_ Jack muttered.

"Good job, Porygon. Keep monitoring the situation. _"_ I said, starting to sound as I had while staying here in the base.

"You are starting to sound like Kelly again. Be careful, you and I both know that you don't want to go back down that path. _"_ Jack warned.

"Jack, part of that path never left me. _"_ I replied morosely.

"You don't have to let it. I went through the same things you did. _"_ he replied.

"Not quite Jack. Not quite. _"_ I smiled grimly.

"Stop feeling sorry for yourself and let's go. I have an idea on how to find Mew. _"_ Jack said with a roll of his eyes.

"After you then. _"_ I replied sarcastically.

 **Sam's POV**

I don't know how, but the machine worked. I had become my normal self. The procedure was extremely painful, despite all of the anesthesia and painkillers they had me on. Oh, how I wished that we had gone with my plan after feeling that one. Dr. Mitchel set aside some black coveralls with a red R emblazoned on the sleeve. As soon as I could move again, I put the clothes on and walked to the window of the chamber. Nobody was inside the lab as far as I could tell so I went to the door. I tried to open it but it was sealed shut. I hit the door angrily, but only ended up hurting myself.

"Good to see that you are awake. How are you feeling?" Mitchel asked. He sounded almost as though he actually cared.

"I'd feel better if you would let me go, and give us Mew." I replied hotly.

"Unfortunately, I am not allowed to do that just yet. Lieutenant Charles has some things he needs to discuss with you in private. Lieutenant, he is ready for you."

The door swooshed open and the large man stepped through. Mitchel proceeded through the door and it shut behind him. Now that I was up close to him, I could see subtle differences from when we had first met outside Fort Trell. His hair was no longer blonde. It had become more of a dirty blonde. His eyes had changed to a deep, chocolate brown and his ears had a barely noticeable point to them.

"Are you insane kid? Are you and that girl just that dense? You are lucky Giovanni doesn't know you are here! I told you guys not to come without the police! How could you be so dense and come here by yourselves?" Charles yelled furiously.

"You gave us the note? Why?" I asked out of shock.

"Because, I am undercover! I have been working this case for almost seven years! Now, I have to find another way to get the message to the feds!" he yelled.

"We forgot honestly. If you are a cop, can you get me out of here?" I asked.

"No, not yet. In fact, you might not be able to get out at all. You may be used as a test subject. That tends to be the fate of people who come here without thinking things through."

"So, what do we do?"

"You stay here with Mitchel. He isn't apart of the government. He is a full fledged Rocket, but he is a good man. He will be able to keep you safe for a little bit, assuming you don't cause too much trouble." Charles walked back to the door and rapped heavily on it. "Oh, one more thing. Was that Katlyn and that one kid riding on your shoulder?"

"Katlyn was the Fletchling. The Pichu was Jack. Jack is a Pichu, not human. The kid you are talking about is Austin. He is a Pikachu right now. He is in a Pokéball on my belt." I explained. Charles nodded and walked out.

Several minutes went by before I saw anyone again. I wished that I hadn't of seen anyone because I saw Mitchel come in with Austin. He was asleep, his breathing was shallow.

"Alright son, we are going to need to be on the other side of the glass for this. Wouldn't want any accidents, would we?" Mitchel said cheerfully.

"Whatever you say, Doc." I replied with a roll of my eyes. I wanted to stop the doctor, but the consequences would be dire.

"Alright. Calibrating the machine. It should be easier now that we know the pattern of the caster. Aw, there we go. The procedure will be complete shortly."

There was a blinding light, as if lightning had just hit the ground next to me. I shielded my eyes, trying to see what was happening, but it was just too bright. The sounds of the machine began to die down and the light diminished. Soon there was no sign that the machine had ever been on.

"He should be waking up soon. I will put some clothes inside for him, while you wait here." Mitchel ordered.

 **Austin's POV**

The doctor that had reverted me seemed nice enough, but I didn't trust him. He seemed almost too sincere. One thing about living in the States in my day and age is that you don't trust anyone you have just met. If you do, you my get burned.

I quickly threw on the clothes that had been provided and the doctor let me out of the small room. I found myself in the main lab. It looked like any other testing lab that I have seen. With my dad being a scientist, I had seen quite a few of them.

"I guess we should have gone with your plan." I said to Sam, who was sitting on a stool.

"My plan would have gotten us caught sooner than Katlyn's." Sam said with a wave of his hand.

"Yeah, going in guns blazing wouldn't have been the smartest idea."

"Alright kids, we are going to discus what you will be doing." a new voice said. I turned to see a tall, muscular man standing in the corner.

"And who are you?" I asked, my eyes narrowed.

"Charles, my friends call me Charlie." the man replied.

"I remember you! You are the one that took Mew in the forbidden tower!" I yelled. The man only nodded.

"Now that we have that out of the way. What do you think you should do."

"Well, we need to find Mew, then get out of here." Sam said.

"Don't forget about Katlyn." I chimed in.

"Alright, here is what you need to know. Mew isn't here per se. Mew is in a dimension that was created here by what we call a Quantum Entanglement Device or QED. Because of that, it will be extremely hard for you to get in to retrieve her."

"Well, how do we get in?" I asked.

"I will get you in. Giovanni, the man in charge, is off site right now observing one of his other projects. The problem is that he will be flying back in a couple of hours so the window is very short."

"Alright, let's do it then." Sam said, enthusiasm leaking out of his voice.

"Doctor, if you truly want to get out of this organization. You will have to join us."

"Yes, of course. Before we are off, Samuel, I have something to give you. He is desperate to apologize to you." Mitchel said. I saw a look of dread form in Sam's eyes.

The doctor pulled out a Pokéball from one of the drawers and tossed it to the ground. The ball bounced then released its occupant.

"Marik." Sam said in utter contempt.

"Sam." the Luxio replied.

"I took the liberty to place a prototype translator under the skin. The voice you are hearing is his, but it works only when he is around electronic speakers." Dr. Mitchel explained.

"What do you want Marik?" Sam said, his fists clenched and his eyes cruel.

"To apologize. To ask for forgiveness. What I did was terrible. I betrayed your kindness. I know my words are worthless to you, but I have to say them. I'm sorry. I destroyed not only your trust, but your friends' trust as well. If there is a way for me to make it up to you, then tell me."

"I told you I never wanted to see you again, you Rocket trash! I trusted you! You were my friend! You were my starter Pokémon! You betrayed me and everything we were doing." With each accusation, the Luxio shrunk back. By the time Sam had finished, the Luxio was a fraction of his actual size.

"I want to help. I know I was in the wrong and I want to change that. Please, let me come with you." he begged.

Sam stopped. He seemed to be deep in thought. He then looked at Marik, his eyes spearing through his soul. Then, with a strained voice he spoke. "If you so much as move a way I don't like, I will shoot you."

"Sam, you don't have a gun. You aren't going to shoot anything." I said matter-of-fact. The next few seconds were blurred as Sam whirled around and grabbed at something on the table. He spun around again and pointed the P-320 at the Luxio.

"Dr. Mitchel, when you have prisoners, next time don't leave their weapons laying on the table." Sam said hoarsely.

"Sam, don't do anything stupid." I said slowly.

"I'm not." he directed to me. Then to Marik, "You, get moving."

"Kid, let me see the gun." Charles said reaching for the weapon.

"No, this is my piece not yours. I can handle it myself." Sam replied as he quickly tucked it away where no one could reach it."

"Fine, but you better not become a threat." the man replied.

 **Ember's POV**

I felt like something had been chopped off. It was a wave of the most agonizing pain I had ever felt. I collapsed to the ground and began convulsing. MK fluttered of to me out of alarm. He frantically asked what was happening, but I couldn't respond. Soon, the waves of pain passed and allowed me to breath again. I sat up in a daze.

"Ember, what was that? _"_ the little Mew asked.

"I don't know. It… it was the most painful thing I had ever felt. _"_ I confessed.

Then, a second wave hit me. It was stronger than the last one. I dropped once again to the ground and stayed there. The seizure gripped me and shook me. I knew I was losing consciousness but I couldn't fight it.

"MK, something is wrong with Katlyn, Sam, and Austin. I… I know that it is them! _"_ I screeched just before the darkness consumed me.

 **Katlyn's POV**

I couldn't believe my eyes. Sam and Austin, as their regular selves, were walking down the hallway with the man who had taken Mew. He and Dr. Mitchel were marching down the hallway as well. Mitchel seemed to be distracted, and the Lieutenant, worried. The biggest shocker was Marik. I could recognize that Luxio anywhere. I was growing angry at the very sight of him. He was the one who had betrayed us. I couldn't help myself. I dived at the Luxio from my perch on an emergency light. I would have hit, but something else had beat me to the punch. The Luxio went flying and I soon found the source of the attack.

"Elweard! _"_ I yelled at the same time as Austin.

" _That one was the traitor._ _Mistress Celebi warned me of him!_ _Now, you humans are next!"_ he snarled.

"Elweard, leave them alone! They are helping us!" Austin yelled.

"What? _"_ I asked, though they couldn't understand me.

"They are taking us to Mew. So don't attack any of them. Well, Marik is free game. I wouldn't mind watching that." Elweard slouched out of relief after hearing Sam and Austin speak.

"Nobody will be hurting anyone." Charles deadpanned. "And you, you need to become invisible or find a place to hide or something so you don't give us away."

Elweard seemed miffed by Charles' response. He was about to say something but I cut him off. _"_ Elweard, he's right you will give them away. Stay out of sight but close enough to lend a hand if we need it. _"_ _I said._

"Yes, you have a point. _"_ he agreed, albeit not happily.

"Good, now Katlyn you go to Charles' shoulder and Jack you go to Mitchel's." Sam decided for us.

"Gee, thanks." Charles muttered.

"Like I am any happier about this. _"_ Jack muttered. I had to agree with Jack on this one.

With Charles and Mitchel leading, we had no problems with the other grunts. I was relieved that nobody was getting suspicious, since that would just be my luck, especially when we were so close to reaching our target.

The corridors kept going. We continued to move unchallenged for quite sometime until we finally came to a stop in front of a large blast door. Two special operations grunts stood on either side of blast door.

"Move aside, we have the prisoners for the work detail." Charles said.

"I need to see your security clearance, Lieutenant." one of the men said as he eyed Charles. Charles tossed the man a badge which the man easily caught.

"Do you really need to check it considering how many times I've been through here?"

"Of course, we know it just annoys you so." the guard said with a laugh. "Alright you're good. Do you need one of us to escort the prisoners?"

"No, that's alright. Don't want people thinking I am a slacker." Charles said with a smile. The guard nodded and typed in a code into the door.

The inside was a gigantic cavern. It was at least sixty feet from floor to ceiling and at least the size of a football field. In the middle sat a huge arch. It sat about thirty feet tall and at least twenty feet wide. Machines sat around the arch like little buildings surrounding a large castle. Scientist and workers bustled about as they worked on the various machines.

"I have to admit that this place is breathtaking. _"_ I said as I looked around.

"We spent a year here and didn't even know about this place. _"_ Jack added.

"Yeah but we didn't have high enough clearance. _"_

"I guess that's true. _"_

Charles kept walking toward the machine. The closer we got the more I saw. Wires were haphazardly lying on the floor. There were also cages in the back of the cavern. Each cage had different Pokémon; some even had people.

"This is the QED. Most of us here just call it the Bridge." Charles whispered.

"Astounding! I have never seen anything like this!" Mitchel exclaimed.

"This device is why this base originally built. It was discovered nearly forty years ago. We only recently discovered how it operates." Charles explained.

"Why wasn't I informed of this project?"

"Your loyalties were in question." Charles answered.

"Makes, sense." Mitchel conceded.

"Dr. Lark, I brought you a few subjects." Charles stated as another doctor came walking toward us.

"Ah, good. Charles, it is a pleasure to see you again." the man said with a smile and a hand shake. He then turned to Dr. Mitchel and frowned. "Mitchel."

"Lark." Mitchel said curtly.

"Come this way. The device is being charged as we speak." the doctor said while walking away.

" _What does this machine bridge_? _"_ Elweard asked.

"Not sure, no human has come back. Pokémon seem to come back alright but humans never comeback. Sensors indicate that there is oxygen and no bio contaminates, but people just can't seem to go there. Giovanni at first decided that manpower would be better spent perfecting other technology. He changed his mind a few days ago." Charles admitted. "We have been using it as a storage facility for some of our more volatile subjects; Mew included. We retrieve them by use of a magnetic recall mechanism."

"Alright, so you are going to throw us inside that thing?" Sam asked quietly.

"Doctor Lark has requested for some suits that will allow them to pull you back in case something goes wrong." Charles said. Then, in much quieter tone he added. "Grab Mew and I will make sure you get out. I have just the thing."

A few minutes later the doctors had Sam and Austin dressed in hazmat suits. They clipped thick cables to Sam and Austin and led them to the bridge. The machines began to hum as they came to life. The arch began to glimmer. Then the portal opened like a whirlpool. Sam and Austin hesitated but proceeded through the bridge.

"Now that they are off I need to do something." Charles muttered as he turned away.

 **Sam's POV**

"Where are we?" I asked as we stepped through the darkness.

"I don't know but this place is giving me the creeps." Austin replied. The lights in our helmets showed us a cavern that was filled with equipment just like the one we had left. There were stasis pods everywhere I looked. I walked to various ones and found that the words test subject didn't cover horrors I saw. Nearly sick, I turned around and closed my eyes.

"Sam, I found her." Austin said.

"Good, open the pod and lets get out of here." I muttered.

"How would you like for me to do that?" Austin said with a roll of his eyes.

"Just start pressing buttons. There has to be a release button somewhere." I replied.

After a few minutes of searching, we found the release lever.

"Alright, get back." I said as I pulled on the handle. The pod whooshed loudly as something like mist leaked out of the pod. Mew opened her eyes ever so slowly. Then they flashed open.

" _You shouldn't have come here!"_ Mew roared.

The sound of her voice sounded like nails on a chalkboard. Her eyes were blood shot and she was frothing at the mouth. She doubled over in pain, clawing at her head with her paws. She then looked up to the ceiling and howled a deep and scratchy howl.

The sound of other scratching things grabbed my attention. I turned to see several Pokémon standing in the room with us. They all had bloodshot eyes.

"Austin lets get out of here!" I yelled. Austin took off for the bridge and I pulled out the handgun hidden in the suit. The Pokémon of various shapes and sizes rushed me. I began to shoot, trying to slow them down. I looked back to see that Austin had made it through. I then ran towards the bridge. As soon as I was close enough, I dived through.

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I hope y'all enjoyed the chapter. Like I said, this is one of the few remaining chapters. I have another story planned as a sequel, but I will be taking a small break from the Pokémon fandom and trying out another fandom. The Bleach fandom to be exact. Anyways, I hope y'all enjoyed the chapter! If you are enjoying the story be sure to smash that follow/favorite button. If you have anything to say be sure to leave a comment or pm me. This is shieldliger001 signing off.


	51. Chapter 51

Hey guys, shield here for some more OMAA! I know it has been a while, but it can't be helped. I have a job now, I may be starting college in the Fall. It has just been busy. Anyways, enough excuses. Onto the reviews!

WyldClaw: Thanks for all of the support! It's much appreciated.

Monpoke: All I can saw is a bullet is enough to make things nervous. Hope you like this chapter!

* * *

 **The rule is perfect: in all matters of opinion our adversaries are insane.**

 **Mark Twain**

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 **Chapter 51**

 **Sam's POV**

I'd never thought that I would have been happy about seeing the rocket base again. I had come through the portal and land roughly on the floor. I panted hard as my brain finally caught up with my body. I recounted the events and shuddered. That bridge to that other world, dimension, hell, whatever you wanted to call it, needed to be destroyed as soon as possible.

Hands grabbed my arms and hoisted me to my feet. Looking around, I saw that several guards had surrounded us. A couple of scientist stared at me as though I had grown a third eye.

"What happened to you in there?" Dr. Lark asked as I was dragged in front of the man.

"You need to destroy that thing now! It… that world… it can't be allowed to exist!" Austin yelled.

"We… opened one of the containers. It… had Mew inside. She went berserk!" I added almost coherently.

"If you don't close it now, she will destroy everything!"

"Shut the device done immediately! We have a test subject outside of its containment pod!" Dr. Lark shouted. "What have you two done! You could have put this entire facility at risk!"

I heard the machine shut down. The lowering whine dulled then shut off completely. I sighed in relief, not caring about the doctor's panic attack induced rage.

That changed when the air filled with static electricity. My head bolted up. I stared at the machine in disbelief. The machine whine started up again. And electricity arced from the large portal. The space in the arch began to crack. It looked like someone had bashed the area with a sledgehammer. The crack grew larger and larger. Then the area seemed to shatter as a strange, new portal formed. It was a deep black nothing. I could have confused it with solid obsidian had streaks of deep purple not begun shooting through it.

"Shut it down!" I heard Charles yell.

"We can't sir! It's not opening by usual means! It is drawing power directly from the reactor!" a tech yelled back.

Charles growled an inhuman growl before bolting at one of the power cables. He yanked a fire extinguisher out of its housing and began to smash at the lead connecting it to the arch. He barked out of frustration as the lead held firm. Several others began to mimic Charles actions, taking up any item that had weight to it.

Eventually, someone shot one of the leads with his rifle. Sparks flew everywhere as the full metal jacket penetrated the cable and severed the connection. The forming portal wavered and cheers began to erupt all over the cavern. Another cable had been detached by a heavyset technician with a fire axe.

Charles continued to smash at the last lead, but it was being stubborn. Three others joined in to help, but it did little good. Though the formation of the portal had halted, it still loomed over the cavern flickering in and out of existence, and thus, still a threat.

"I don't like showing my trump card but here goes nothing!" Charles yelled as he thrust his right arm forward.

At first nothing happened. A second later, a dark purple energy sphere phased into existence. It was about the size of a pinpoint, but began to gain in mass. It soon became the size of a basketball. Charles brought his arm back and threw the ball with an overhand toss. The sphere flew forward and smashed into the cable. There was an explosion that shook the ground under my feet and the portal winked out of existence. The cable jumped to and fro as electricity sparked everywhere.

I breathed a sigh of relief as the disaster had been diverted. Cheers from groups of technicians and guards erupted, but it was all short lived.

The space in front of the arch shattered like glass. The black and purple portal had reopened. A very pissed Mew floated through, and she was not alone. Humans and Pokémon alike flowed through the portal. It started with ten, then twenty, then fifty. Soon we were completely outnumbered.

" _I won't forget. I cannot forget. I won't forget. I cannot forget. I will not forget!"_ Mew roared. The attack had begun.

 **Lawrence's POV**

The flash of light still disoriented me. Having only been in a Pokéball for the past couple of months, I still wasn't used to the sensation.

That sensation paled in comparison to the slaughter that was happening outside of the Pokéball. Human and Pokémon alike were attacking. There were already plenty of injured or dying humans. Most were in Rocket uniforms. Gunfire resounded through the cavern I had spawned.

"Sam! Katlyn! What's happening? _"_ I yelled midst the chaos.

"Lawrence! Watch out! They are crazy!" I heard Sam yell.

I watched as a Raticate tried to pounce on the boy. I prayed that my next move wouldn't be a mistake. I fired a large Flamethrower at the offending Raticate. It hit the Raticate just before it hit Sam. It shrieked as it fell to the ground. I thought it was down but it stood up as if nothing had happened. It snarled at me then charged.

I jumped to the left and avoided the wild charge. Despite their ferocity, they didn't seem to be all that bright. I guess when you outnumber your foe ten to one, lack of intelligence isn't the biggest of disadvantages. Before the creature could turn around, I launched my own attacks I jumped and bit down as hard as I could with my fire infused fangs.

The Raticate, which was double my size, screeched and began bucking to and fro. I held on for dear life while shooting more flames into the bite wound. Eventually the Raticate began to tire, and its struggle ceased.

I panted heavily as I bounded away from the Pokémon. Sam was nearby commanding the other Pokémon that he had released. Austin was doing the same with Elweard. I even saw Katlyn and Jack working together to take on a few Ekans that had slithered past the others. The only one who didn't have a target was me, and, for the first time, I saw the horror of this battle. Men with guns were shooting unarmed people. Those people wouldn't stop despite being riddled with holes. They ran up to and began slaughtering anyone nearby. The Pokémon weren't very different. Many would take unearthly amounts of damage and continue to get up. It was like fighting a horde of zombies. If you didn't get them in the head, they would keep coming.

"Lawrence! Behind you! _"_ the reptilian voice of Basilisk warned.

I twisted around in time to see that a Rydon had chosen me as his next victim. I jumped to the side and let the Rydon pass by, or so I thought. The Rydon, slammed its massive clawed fist into the ground. The move caused the Rydon to turn faster than I had anticipated. The Rydon caught me completely off guard. He smashed its large fist into my right side and sent me flying into the air. I landed with a loud thump. Just about every rib had been broken by that single punch.

 **Austin's POV**

I jumped over a nearby console, and crouched down. The chaos had reached every section of the cave. I took the small break I got and tried to analysis our situation. When you have a bunch of zombie-like enemies after you it is hard to do. Elweard took down several of the smaller foes, buying me time to think about what was happening. I looked over the slaughter. People were fighting in every corner of the cavern. Most of the Pokémon were your garden variety Pokémon. Every once in a while, there would be a large Pokémon, but most were no taller than three feet. One thing I noticed was that none of the enemy Pokémon were using powerful moves. They seemed to know only the basics, yet their moves seemed to do ten times the damage that they should have. Also, the smaller Pokémon seemed to have more endurance than the large ones.

"Elweard! Try to get Sam!" I shouted.

" _As you wish."_ the Lucario replied as he disappeared from view. I few seconds later, he returned with Sam in tow. Sam really didn't look all that thrilled.

"Austin! What the crap! I need to get back and give orders!" Sam yelled.

"I'm trying to figure out what's going." I said, ignoring the protest. "And, I think I figured something out."

"And that would be?" Sam asked impatiently

"We were in the distortion world. The dimension where the Renegade, Girantina, lived."

"And how do you figure that?"

"The weak are the ones that are unstoppable. The strong moves aren't doing anything. Sane men have gone mad. What more do you need?" I demanded.

"A large, neon sign saying, 'Welcome to the distortion World!' would be nice." Sam grumbled. He looked at the chaos that raged all around us. "We caused this, didn't we?"

"Yeah, I think we did." I replied.

A smirk grew on Sam's face. "Then let's fix it!"

"And how do you suppose we do that?"

"We go after Mew. She seems to be the key to all of this. If we take her out first then we won't have to worry about the others. Besides, she is the strongest Pokémon next to Arceus himself. If you're right, then she should be very weak right now."

"I guess it's as good a plan as any." I said glumly. I could feel that this wasn't going to end well.

"Try to get Charles, Katlyn, Jack, Zan, and Basil. The rest will count as a diversion until we can take out Mew." Sam said, his confidence growing by the minute.

"We could use Marik as well." I muttered softly.

"Yeah, he could be useful as cannon fodder." Sam muttered darkly.

"I'll get Elweard to let the others know."

 **Marik's POV**

The crazed Pokémon seemed to be winning at first glance. Their numbers were overwhelming and the few people left were on the run. The moment looked bleak. There wasn't any way of getting around that. Elemental attacks sizzled and sprayed everywhere. Burning hot lead dinged off the cavern walls and machinery. Even the air had an overwhelming scent of blood in it.

The air was filled with crazed anger as well. Yelling and shrieking made me desperate to find Sam. I was indebted to him. He treated me like and equal and I betrayed him. That wasn't how I wanted to be remembered. I jumped through fire, flew through water, ran through electricity, and dug through the ground to find the one that I would protect.

"Sam! _"_ I yelled when I finally saw the boy.

He was struggling with a Rattata that got the slip on him. I ran forward, throwing caution to the wind. As soon as I was in range I tackled the Rattata to the ground. It screeched and clawed. I let electricity flood through my paws as I clawed again and again at the little rat's neck. Eventually, it went limp. I spun around to see Sam staring at me. He was flummoxed, but I had no clue as to why.

"This doesn't change anything." he said uncertainly. "If you want to help, I can't stop you. Go get Katlyn and Basil. Elweard is getting the rest of them."

I nodded and jumped back into the fray. I used agility to keep ahead of anything trying to stop me. As I searched, I noticed that the doors on the far side of the cavern were sliding open. Five drones rolled in on tracts. They were built like tanks with tank treads and body, but there was no turret. Instead, the was a bulbous dome with antenna sprouting from the top. On either side of the of the dome were two mounted mini-guns. The barrels began to spin as each drone acquired a target.

"Take cover! _"_ I yelled as I dove to the ground.

The drones unleashed hell. Fire erupted from the gun barrels as lead tore across the cavern. Many of the infected Pokémon and people fell victim to the spray of bullets; as did many of the remaining people.

The deadly storm ceased and silence engulfed the cavern. The sound of machinery clanking broke that silence as they reacquired targets. They were aiming at anything that moved.

"Zan! If you can hear me, we need to take those out! _"_ I shouted before the drones could cut loose again. I didn't hear a reply as cannon fire again filled the cavern. I tucked myself as close to the ground as I could and waited for the attack to cease.

Once the second barrage had finished, I bolted toward the drones. One of them saw my movement and pivoted its turret-like dome to intercept me. I began leaping and bounding in order to throw off its tracking. When I started, I was almost in the middle of the cave. I had eaten the distance up and was about to throw a large Thunderbolt at the first drone, until I noticed Zan running on my left side. Basil had followed Zan and now slithered on my right side.

"Zan! What moves do you know that have a wide AOE? _"_ I yelled.

"He can't talk without a psssychic type nearby. _"_ Basil hissed.

"Fine! What about you? Same question! _"_

"What'sss an AOE? _"_

"You're kidding me! Area of effect! What do you have that has splash damage! _"_ I yelled.

"Venossshock and Sssludge Bomb! _"_ the snake replied.

"Alright, I want you to use both those moves to blind them. _"_

Suddenly, a bright light flashed on my left side. I looked over to see that the light was radiating from Zan. It got so bright that I had to turn away. He had decided to use Flash. The move was exactly what we needed.

"Do it now Basil! _"_ I shouted as the flare of light quickly began to dissipate.

Basil reared back his head and coughed up a large ball of toxins. The ball launched toward the drones. There was a large explosion causing the toxins to fly in all directions. The dark purple poison coated the many sensors and antenna that covered the dome turrets.

"Alright everyone, use your most powerful attacks! _"_ I yelled as I charged the most powerful attack. Electricity crackled through my fur and began to build up in front of me.

'This is going to hurt.' I thought as I blasted myself forward at full speed. 'Never thought I would end up using Wild Charge.'

I dove into the closest drone with a loud crash. The electricity pulsated into the metal frame of the machine and sent devastating shocks throughout the machine, shutting it down.

Behind me, I could hear another crackle of electricity. I turned just in time to witness the most powerful Thunder attack I had ever seen. It struck a drone directly in the front of the sensor array. The bolt drilled its way through the machine and destroyed the machine before it could even turn.

"I would vacate the area if you value your life, Luxio. _"_ Basil said matter-of-fact.

He opened his maw and red energy began to gather. Soon there was a very small bead of energy floating in front of the snake's open mouth. He then closed his mouth over the bead. I took that time to get the hell out of dodge. Seconds after I ran, a gigantic beam of red energy swept through the area. It hit one of the drones then swept its way to the left to hit the other. The shock wave had thrown the last drone through the air where it landed upside down and completely useless.

"What the hell was that! _"_ I yelled

"I call that the Doom Blast. It is a variant of a Hyper Beam I created. _"_ Basil replied.

"Remind me not to get on his bad side. _"_ I muttered to which Zan nodded.

We all turned around to look at the damage that had been caused. The large cavern was mostly silent. There were a few moans across the entire area. Survivors of the drone attack began to search for more survivors. The battle was over.

 **Austin's POV**

With the drones gone, people and Pokémon began to stir once more. A lot had happened during the short time the drones were active. Almost everyone had been hit by the stream of bullets. I was one of the lucky few that managed to escape the calculated wrath of the drones. Sam and most of the others in our group also escaped. The only one to be hit was Charles. His arm was soaked in blood, yet he didn't seem to be in any pain.

"Don't worry about it. I've been shot before." Charles said as I tried to get a better look at the hit.

"Shut up and let me look at it." I replied.

"Kid, seriously, it's not a problem. In a minute I'll be good as new."

"Yeah, and I'm a monkey's uncle."

"Just watch. It won't be a problem." Charles said with a reassuring smile.

I rolled my eyes and watched. Nothing seemed to be happening. Then something in his arm began to move. It seemed like his entire arm was infested with scarabs. A couple of seconds later, pieces of copper began to push through the wound! Blood squirted out as the pieces dropped onto the ground. Then a much larger chunk of lead began to emerge from the wound. The dark gray lump landed on the ground next to the copper jacket.

"Told you I would be fine." Charles said as the wound began to close itself.

"What are you?" I asked out of shock.

"Just an experiment." he replied.

" _You are the first that must go!"_

My eyes darted to the source just in time to see a large ball of dark purple energy launch in my direction. I was sent crashing to the ground. I looked up to see that Charles had jumped in front of the oncoming attack. In his hands was a smaller purple energy ball. He didn't throw it. Instead he wrapped it around his arms. Now with arms in energy gauntlets, he readied for the impending detonation. When it was in range. He punched it as hard as he could with his right arm. The giant ball slowed but still continued forward. He then punched with his other hand. The ball slowed further, but still continued forward. Charles began to push back, his feet dug deep into the ground as he struggled.

" _Die filthy half breed!"_ Mew roared as she appeared above Charles. She had both of her fore-paws by her stomach. Another energy sphere began to form. She curled into the fetal position causing the ball to grow. She threw herself at the first attack, shoving the second sphere into the first. Charles was instantly overpowered by the renewed strength of the first attack. There was a large explosion that completely filled the cavern with sound and light. The shock wave threw me into the air.

"Charles?" I murmured as I opened up my eyes.

A couple of feet away, was a badly burned body. It was Charles! He was gasping for breath. I stood as best I could and walked to his side. He was in even worse shape than I had thought.

"Charles!" I yelled.

"I'll be…alright. Just, give… me a moment." he whispered.

"You aren't alright! You could die!" I yelled.

"Trust me, I… have any ace… up my sleeve." he replied with a slight smile.

" _Enough of your babbling!"_ I heard Mew Roar from behind.

I turned just in time to see that Mew had another large sphere formed. She threw it at us just like the first time. I jumped on top of Charles and braced for the impact. A second later, an explosion ripped through the area. I thought that it was the end, but something felt off. I looked back up to see that the something had caused the ball to explode.

" _You have made a fatal mistake."_ Elweard said from my left. He was still in the same pose he used for his Aura Sphere.

 **Lawrence's POV**

" _You have made a fatal mistake."_

"Yeah, what he said. _"_ I added as I took my place next to the Lucario. All around the cave, the remaining Pokémon took up a defiant stance. Zan, Basil, and Marik stood to the left of us. Katlyn, Jack, and even Porygon stood or rather floated to the right. Our trainers also stood with us.

" _It is you who has made the fatal mistake!"_ Mew shrieked inside our heads.

She came flying at us with a dark aura surrounding her. We all jumped away from our current positions to escape the large ball of energy she had begun to produce. Seconds later the ball impacted the ground, sending dirt and stone into the air. Our group surrounded the crater and waited for Mew to reappear, but it didn't happen.

"You let your guard down Zan! _"_ she roared behind Zan. The Jolteon didn't even have a chance to turn before a Shadow Ball smashed into him. It sent him careening into what was left of a generator. I rushed to his side as Elweard, Basil, and Porygon unleashed a barrage of ranged attacks.

"Pathetic. _"_ Mew stated. I had almost made it to Zan when a Power Up Punch impacted my side sending me sideways. I crashed into the ground. I was in a lot of pain. I tried to stand but it seemed like all of my strength had left me after that single attack. _"_ Two down, who's next? _"_ Mew gloated.

" _Marik, by us some time. For everyone to encircle her. When she goes to attack you I need Katlyn to use her strongest fire type move. When she goes for Katlyn, Jack will need to attack. We must wear her done, but be sure to cover each other. If we mistime our attacks, we are as good as dead."_ I was shocked to hear Zan's voice, but then remember it was one of his many talents.

"You are such a coward. _"_ Elweard said. It was taking him all his strength to not lose his cool.

"I consider it not taking unnecessary risks. _"_ Mew replied.

"You are not the Mew that I know. _"_ Marik said in an attempt to reason with the mad legendary.

"Oh please, you are only a human in the form of a Pokémon! You know nothing of me! _"_ Mew shot back as she raised her paws above her head. A purple energy ball began to form. Mew was almost ready to unleash the sphere when a small shower of embers collided with her. She grimaced in pain then turned her head to see that the origin of the attack was Katlyn. _"_ I see that we have a volunteer! _"_

Mew threw the sphere at Katlyn who was trying to fly out of the way. The ball quickly caught up to her but it exploded before she was hit by it.

" _Its good to know that you are still useful, Mew. Now I can coordinate with my fellow teammates!"_ I heard. I looked over to see Zan standing up. The damage caused by the Shadow Ball had completely vanished.

"I see, you saved little Katlyn from biting the dust. No matter, she won't be safe for long. _"_ Mew cackled. Her cackling was cut short by a sudden Thunderbolt. It struck her in the back. She cringed from the pain, but looked more angry than hurt.

"I see the other fake Pokémon has guts! _"_ Mew yelled as she went for Jack next. Before she made it however, a gigantic red beam shot forward from Basil and completely engulfed the frenzied Mew. She roared loudly, this time out of pain. When the attack ended, she looked at Basilisk, venomously then tried to throw a Shadow Ball at him.

Mew had been surrounded on all sides by the rest of my teammates. I felt some of my strength return and joined the group. Each time Mew attacked one of us, another would attack her. Porygon hit her with a Tri-Attack, I used Flamethrower, Elweard used Aura sphere, Marik used Thunder, Katlyn used Ember, Basil used his Hyper Beam, and Jack and Zan used Thunderbolt. We were not taking damage, but Mew was taking a lot of abuse. Zan's strategy was working perfectly.

"Enough! _"_ Mew shouted. She raised her hands into the air once again. A large ball of psychic energy began form once again.

" _Get ready. Watch for who she attacks!"_ Zan warned.

"This attack is for every one of you! _"_ She cackled as she launched the ball at the ceiling. The ceiling splintered as the ball hit, sending fragments raining down on us. A few seconds later, there was a low rumble. The entire ceiling began to collapse. Huge chunks of rock crashed into the ground.

"Cave in!" I heard someone scream. Suddenly, everything became very dark.

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This was an awesome chapter to write. I had a lot of fun with it and I hope y'all enjoyed it. The next chapter may very well be the last. This story was a lot of fun to write and I am honored with all of the support I received while writing it. Until next time, this is shieldliger001 signing off!


	52. Chapter 52

Hey guys I am happy and sad to say that this is the final chapter of OMAA. This story was a lot of fun and gave me something to look forward to for the past two years. Now on to the reviews!

Caitou zzzzzz: I believe that you'll be happy with this chapter. Thank you so much for all the support you have shown for this story.

Glace2: Thanks for the review! I really hope that you like this final chapter! Thanks for your support. It really helps!

* * *

 **Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.**

 **Winston Churchill**

* * *

 **Chapter 52**

 **Sam's POV**

I threw myself to the ground as soon as the rumbling had started. Someone called out a warning for the others but it came too late as car sized boulders began to fall to the ground. Mew cackle madly as the storm of rock began to fall. As the maelstrom continued it began to get darker and darker. Soon the rocks began to pile around us, and it became difficult to move. All that happened took no more than five seconds, yet it felt like an eternity. Suddenly, everything went black.

" _Samuel, Austin, you must get up. The battle is not yet over."_

"Elweard? Where are you?" I mumbled numbly.

" _I am trapped under some debris. I will be free momentarily."_ the Lucario replied.

"You say that like it's just an inconvenience." I heard another voice mutter.

"Austin? That you?" I asked.

"Sam? You ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's pretty dark though. Can't even see my hand in front of my face." I replied

"Same here. There isn't a lot of room to move either."

"What happened to the others?" I asked.

" _I do not know. I saw Lawrence and Marik dive for cover by the arch. I also saw Katlyn break for a spot under a broken computer console. I did not see where the others went."_ Elweard said.

"They'll be fine. We just have to start digging our way out of here." a distant voice said to us.

"Charles! You're ok too?" I asked.

"For the most part. I am missing my leg from the knee down though." came his reply.

"What the crap! You call that ok?" I yelled.

"Sam, I was only kidding. I'm not that hurt." Charles replied with a small laugh.

"You are such an idiot!" I replied.

" _I am almost free. I will free you next, Samuel."_ Elweard spoke.

"Nice to know that my best friend and partner doesn't even want to save me first."

" _D_ _o not mistake my actions for abandonment. You are quite a bit farther away than Samuel."_ Elweard replied.

"How far under are we buried?"

" _Approximately five feet; give or take a few inches."_

"That is less than I thought it would be." Austin said thoughtfully.

" _If it were not for Basilisk, we all could have died. He used his Doom Blast to disintegrate a good bulk of the falling debris."_ Elweard stated. There was a small moment of silence before a very low rumble could be heard. _"I am now free."_

"Alright, just hurry. It's getting a little hard to breath here." I replied.

The ground began to shake above me. Dust began to shake itself loose from the low ceiling above me. I coughed a little as I inhaled the flying particles. Then the ground began to violently shake.

" _I don't think you should do that."_

"Mew!" I shouted as a gash in the rocks opened up just inches from my face.

 **Elweard's POV**

I narrowly escaped the Psycho Cut that had been thrust at me. The move sliced through the ground I had just been digging in.

" _Samuel! Are you alright, Samuel!"_ I shouted.

"I'm fine! Just kick that mangy cat's ass for nearly taking my head off!" Samuel replied. It was unsettling to hear him swear, but I could understand his frustration.

" _It seems I missed. Pity."_ Mew said in a bored fashion.

"You will pay for that. _"_ I swore.

"I would like to see you try. _"_ Mew replied with a malicious grin.

I threw myself at the legendary as she floated in the air. I pulled back a fist and forced as much power into it as I could. I threw the punch as soon as it had enough power and I was in range.

"My, my, how rash of you, and how predictable. _"_ Mew yawned.

She easily countered me with only her tail. It cracked like a whip as it deflected my punch. I floated in the air a few seconds due to my earlier momentum, but it left me completely defenseless. She punched me in the gut with a Thunder Punch then she continued the attack with a Mega Kick. The force sent me crashing into the cave floor.

"Pathetic. When I created your race, I thought I had out done myself. Apparently I was wrong. You are weak. _"_ Mew taunted.

"And you are a twisted psychopath in Mew's form. _"_ I shot back.

"I can't deny it. _"_ Mew smiled sadistically.

I closed my eyes. I knew that it would take more strength than I had to defeat Mew. I used my aura vision search for anyone that could possible help my struggle. I was surprised to see that a good amount of our group was still in good health. They were just buried under quite a bit of rock. I could easily destroy enough of the rubble for them to escape, but I would have to be sneaky. Mew was in the air again floating around in circles as if she were a mere child.

" _I need anyone who is still conscious to listen up. I am going destroy enough debris to allow you to escape. However, I don't want you to do so just yet. I want every one of you to use your most powerful special attack. When I give the signal, I want you all to fire you moves at the center of the room. It's a long shot, but it's all we have."_ I explained as I jumped into the air once again. This time I charge an Aura Sphere. I threw it a little wide to make it easy for Mew to dodge. She did so with a shift of her head. The Aura Sphere continued forward and smashed into the ground, creating a large crater directly above where Marik was.

"You have to do better than that, _child"_ Mew cackled.

I repeated my attempts several times. The use of my aura vision helped tremendously, allowing for me to calculate just how much power to use. Soon everyone had been uncovered.

" _Everyone do it now!"_ I yelled through my telepathy. Soon after, energy attacks of all types lashed out from the ground. Five pillars of light and heat all converged on Mew she had been completely engulfed in the assault. The was a screech of pain unlike any I had ever heard. The screeching turned to maniacal laughter.

"Did you fools really not think that I wouldn't catch on?"

Six beams of light fired back at us from within our own attack. They each hit the very spot where one of us had been confined, or, in my case, standing. Yelling and screaming once again filled the air as the beams did their jobs. I was forced to a single knee and could only imagine what the others were going through. Our attack completely dissipated and showed that it hadn't even hit Mew.

"Little child, you should have known that you were being played." Mew tutted as she floated mere inches from my face. "You have failed. Now be a good little puppy and run away!"

Mew shot both arms into the air and a large energy sphere instantly formed. She threw her hands down and the sphere came barreling at me. I closed my eyes, knowing that I wouldn't survive the impact.

"Elweard! You idiot! Are you really just going to sit there and take that?" a voice called. My head swung to my right to find that Austin was standing there. I closed my eyes again before jumping up to meet the sphere head on with the largest Aura Sphere I could muster.

"Alright guys attack!" Austin yelled.

A ball of fire erupted from my left. It flew directly at Mew. Mew, who was now trying to force her sphere forward couldn't dodge. She instead erected a force field around her.

" _You stay out of this!"_ Mew roared.

"Sorry, but I can't allow you to hurt my friends! We put our lives on the line to save you and this is how you repay us?" Austin yelled back.

" _One small attack won't stop me! I will obliterate everything!"_

"How about two!" another voice yelled. A Shadow Ball then launched from somewhere behind me.

"You cursed my brother and I am not quitting until you fix him! _"_ Katlyn, who had been the fire ball from earlier, yelled.

"Katlyn! Charles! Keep the pressure on her! Elweard! Try to beat her attack!" Sam yelled as he now stood next to Austin.

Another shadow ball fired from Charles and Katlyn charged again using Flame Charge.

"Stay away from me! _"_ Mew yelled as the attacks impacted her shield.

I noticed that her attack had jumped back a few feet. By distracting, her with direct attacks, she couldn't keep the ball from falling back. I grinned as I poured more power into my paws. I shot it into my Aura Sphere. It began to push even harder. Charles and Katlyn's constant attacks were causing the desired effect.

" _Stop!"_ she shouted, but it was too late.

Katlyn and Charles' attacks had weakened her defense and she was soon exposed to the outside once more. On top of that, her own attack began charging back at her. She didn't even have time to scream before hit her. There was a large explosion and then silence.

"Did we do it? _"_ Katlyn chirped.

"I think so." Charles replied.

"You foolish pests! How dare you! How dare you do this to me! _"_ Mew growled from the debris. _"_ I will kill you all! _"_

There was a blur of pink that flashed past me. It was headed straight toward Charles! I tried to stand up but my legs had given out; unable to take anymore abuse. Mew raked back her paws to unleash an attack but she was swatted down before she could follow through.

"Just give up! You lost! Deal with it!" Austin shouted as he regained his composure.

To my shock, Mew did not get back up. Instead, she was lying on the ground, unable to move. While on the ground, a purple and black beam of energy shot out of her. When I tried to focus on Mew, it was clear to me that the influences of the Distortion World had disappeared. We had finally won the battle.

 **Sam's POV**

Charles managed to find a few first-aid kits and potions that had survived the cave-in. Those of us that could stand went about digging the rest of our friends out of the rubble. It was fairly easy since they had destroyed most of the dirt and rock beforehand, but it also meant that we had to see all of the carnage. Not a single one of our friends escaped unscathed. Everyone had terrible burns over their entire bodies. Zan had the least amount of problems due to the nanobots, but he was still in rough shape.

"Guys, we need to get them to a Pokémon Center. If we don't, they could die." I muttered softly.

"I know, but we have no way out. Everyone is down for the count. We are lucky that we survived at all." Austin replied.

"Hey! Can anyone hear me? I'm stuck under this computer console!" a new voice called out.

"We forgot about Dr. Mitchel!" Austin and I yelled at the same time.

We ran to the noise and began digging. It didn't take long to find the console but we didn't have the strength to lift it up. Charles walked over after seeing our plight and lent us a hand. After a ridiculous amount of effort, we managed to remove the console; setting Mitchel free.

"Thank you all for the help. I don't think I would have lasted much longer." Mitchel said as he attempted to dust himself off.

"Don't mention it." Charles replied.

"Alright guys, we still need to get out of here. Any ideas?" Austin asked.

"Well, you could try healing Mew and having her teleport us out. That is if she is back to her right mind." Mitchel suggested. Our mouths dropped open at the sheer simplicity of Mitchel's idea.

"Don't use anymore potions!" we yelled at Elweard and Katlyn.

 **Maggie's POV**

Emily, Devin, and Caleb had been having a good time the past week, but I was beginning to worry. There hadn't been a word from Katlyn or the others since they had left. Mr. and Mrs. Ward were acting as if nothing was happening, but I could tell they were worried sick. Truthfully, I was worried as well. Lawrence may have been on many adventures, but he was still my little kit. I prayed that they would be alright, but I still felt sick to my stomach when I saw the news. There had been a massive cave-in out in the Viridian forest. There was a hidden facility there and rescue personnel were still pulling people out from the debris. I knew deep in my heart that that was were Katlyn had gone. Mr. and Mrs. Ward knew as well.

"She has to be ok! She's our little girl!" I heard Mrs. Ward cry from the other room.

"Hun, she's ok. They are all ok." Mr. Ward comforted quietly.

I turned back to the image of the sink hole. There were choppers flying over it and what looked to be a small army of paramedics and police officers swarming the area. Though I knew I wouldn't be able to see Katlyn and the others, I tried anyways. Hoping beyond hope that I would see a sign.

"What are you watching?"

"I'm looking for Katlyn and Sam. I'm sure that's where they went. _"_ I replied morosely.

"Well, seeing as we are right here, I don't think you'll find us there." Katlyn said with a giggle.

I spun around to fine that Katlyn, Lawrence, Sam, Austin, and MK had been behind me the whole time. I backed up at first out of fear. I felt that they could all have been ghost. Then I smelled each ones scent, I heard them all breathing, their hearts beating, and the squeaking of their shoes as they nervously shuffled in place.

"Lawrence! _"_ I cried as I lunged at my son. He had no time to react as I tackled him to the ground.

"Mom, it's really me! I'm ok. I am really here! _"_ Lawrence yelped as tears followed down his face. My own tears began mix with his.

"What is all the commotion ab… Katlyn? Is that really you?" Mrs. Ward asked as she and Mr. Ward entered the room.

"Hey Mom, Dad." Katlyn said with a small smile.

Like me, Katlyn threw herself at her mother. They hugged for several minutes before she switched off and hugged her father.

Our touching moment was interrupted by a stampede of footsteps however as Devin and Emily reached the bottom of the stairs.

"It's about time you got back here, you jerk!" Devin yelled as he punched his brother in the arm. "When they heard about the sinkhole they began talking about the future. They were going to put me in Kindergarten!"

"You do look the part." Austin laughed as he pulled his brother into a playful headlock.

"Yeah, yeah, I was worried for you." Devin said quietly.

"We both were." Emily added before she pulled both boys into a hug.

"It takes more than a few Rockets to take me down." Austin laughed.

"Um, guys? Where is Caleb?" Katlyn asked.

 **Caleb's POV**

'I swear when I can move on my own again, I'm going to kill them all!' I thought as I sat in the stupid crib. Emily and Devin heard shouting downstairs and took off. Teresa, stayed with me, but she had fallen asleep was now currently assaulting my eardrums with her snoring. The noise was quickly becoming unbearable as it sounded like two semi trucks making love.

Just before my ears began to rupture, the door opened. Teresa immediately awoke from her slumber and stared incredulously at the intruder.

"Hey Teresa, sorry to wake you. I just came to get my brother. There is someone here to see him."

"Katlyn, by all means take him. I'm sure that he's ready to talk again." Teresa said quickly.

"Thanks. Alright Caleb, I think you know what time it is." Katlyn said with a smile.

'Are you kidding me? I am so ready for this!' I thought.

Katlyn picked me up and carried me down the stairs. She then had Sam open the front door for her. Outside were four individuals. An older man dressed in a torn dress shirt and slacks with a torn lab coat, A younger man with some distinctly canine features and dressed in a battered uniform, Ember, and Mew.

"Mom, Dad, these two men helped us while we were in the base. They made it possible to find Mew." Katlyn said.

"I am Doctor Julius Mitchel. I was one of the lead scientist that led to the capture of Mew. I am so sorry for what I have put your family through. I was wrong of me, and I see that now. If you call the authorities, I understand." Mitchel said as he bowed his head. I could see that Dad's eyes had hardened and he was about to step forward, but mom refrained him from moving.

"You have done a terrible thing Doctor, but you tried to make up for it by setting Mew free. For that, we thank you." Mom said with a soft smile.

"Thank you Madam." Mitchel whispered before stepping back.

"I am Special Agent Charles Leonard of the Kanto Deep Intelligence Agency. I was apart of the operation to bring Team Rocket to the ground. Your daughter played a pivotal role in getting the information I had gathered out to my people." Everyone, including Katlyn, looked like they were going to pass out.

"You were a spy the entire time?" Mitchel asked.

"I prefer being called an undercover cop, but yes. When Katlyn stormed the base, she shut down the jammer that was not allowing my information to be sent. Even though she didn't bring the reinforcements that I needed. She still managed to send every bit of data I collected over the past six years." Mitchel explained.

"Wait a second. How did I shut down the jammer? I didn't even touch a computer.

"You didn't but your Porygon did. We rigged tournament you entered so that you would receive the Porygon. Everyone you fought, lost on purpose." Charles said with a smile.

"Crap! Then you know about the plane tickets!" Katlyn yelped.

"Ha ha, the money came from an account that we set up. Don't worry, you aren't in any trouble." Charles laughed.

"You put my daughter in danger for the sack of some mission? How dare you, sir!" Dad exploded. Despite her effort, Mom couldn't hold him back this time. Dad quickly took a swing at Charles, but Charles easily sidestepped it.

"Dad, stop!" Katlyn yelled. "I may not look it, but I am an adult! Even if Charles didn't do what he did, I still would have gone to that base! Even if it had killed me! That Porygon helped me get my brother's hope back!"

Dad stopped in his tracks and looked down at the ground. Tears began to fall from his eyes. Katlyn walked up to him and gave him a hug.

"All I wanted to do was to make sure my family never got hurt. I failed as a husband, as a father, and as a man." he cried.

"I would say that you didn't fail. You raised two wonderful children that are bold, persevering, and full of heart. If you were any other kind of man, these children would have given up a long time ago." Mitchel said with a knowing smile.

" _I really hate to interrupt, but I think Caleb would really like to get back to normal."_ Mew interrupted

"I can't believe we forgot after everything we have been through." Austin muttered.

'I can't either.' I thought.

 **Katlyn's POV**

"So what do we have to do?" I asked.

" _Originally, I was going to borrow some of Samuel's years and place them within Caleb. However, now that his parent's are here. We can use their years instead."_ Mew replied

"Wait, so that mirror that showed me as a kid was what was going to happen to me?" Sam asked in horror.

" _Well, yes. It was a scare tactic I created. Unfortunately it did not have the desired effect."_ Mew replied coolly.

"That's just screwed up on some many levels!" Sam yelled.

" _I would like to begin immediately. With your permission of course, Mr. Ward."_

"Caleb would want this." Mr. Ward said solemnly.

"Stop acting like you are being forced into this. You know the idea of being a little younger is attractive. After all you are in your forties." Mrs. Ward laughed.

"Are you going to return him to his actual age?" I asked nervously.

" _That is completely up to Caleb. What do you say, Caleb"_ Mew asked.

" _I think being older than Katlyn is going to be awesome!"_ Caleb's thoughts rang out. I could feel the blood flowing out of my face. Then I heard a laugh. _"That's priceless! Katlyn, you should see the look on your face!"_

"I'm sorry that I went out and risked my life to get you back to normal!" I yelled.

" _Katlyn, I really don't want you to go through this all alone. You sacrificed a great deal to make this happen for me."_ Caleb said seriously as he looked at me with his blue eyes. He then turned his head toward Mew. _"I think I want to be about her age. Maybe a tad older."_ he said with smirk, while I glared at my little brother.

Mom and dad seemed slightly disappointed. I think they wanted a few more years taken off, but it wasn't their choice. Mew smiled softly and placed her hands on my mother and father. The three of them began to glow a bright blue. The light was transparent so I could see everything that happened. Mom's hair seemed to regain some of its former glow. Several of the forming wrinkles disappeared from her face and she seemed to slim down a little. Dad's changes were more subtle. Some of the muscle he had returned and his graying hair reverted back its original deep brown. His back also seemed to straighten a little bit. When the light faded from them the looked younger and healthier.

Mew held the ball of energy in her hands as she floated to me. I placed Caleb on the ground on a blanket we already prepared. She manipulated the ball with her paws before she pushed the ball ever so gently into Caleb. Before my eyes, Caleb began to grow. He quickly passed the toddler years and was almost instantly the same age as me. Before the light faded however, there was another bright flash. I had to cover my eyes because of the brightness. When the light faded a fully dressed Caleb was standing on his own two legs.

"What was with that final flash?" I asked as I rubbed my eyes.

" _I had to protect what little dignity Caleb had left. After all, none of you brought any clothes out for him."_ Mew replied. All of us, nearly passed out. _"Now, before I depart, I have a few things to do. If everyone would release their Pokémon for me please."_

We quickly did as we were told. All of our Pokémon now stood with us as Mew began to float to and fro. She looked at each Pokémon diligently before moving on to the next one.

" _For your bravery in your attempt to rescue me. I will grant you each a gift. It is the least I can do for all you have done."_ Mew stated as if it were from a speech. _"Elweard, you have fought bravely and defended your friends even if you knew you would lose. Zan and Jack, you both taught Katlyn what it meant to be friends with Pokémon. Basilisk, you were loyal to the trainer that captured you and always gave it your all no matter what the cost was. Lawrence, you never gave up on your friend and brother. Teresa cared for everyone. There are too many things that every one of you have done to count. Your gift will be the strength to pursue what you deem as right. I will heal you of all previous scars and bless you that you will never lose the wars that each of you will face in the future."_

She raised her paws into the air and a ball of pure light began to take shape. Mew took the light and began to tenderly shape it into seven different pieces. Then with a wave of her paws, the lights floated gently into each Pokémon. They all began to glow brightly with the warm light. Each one began to look slightly different, as if they had a good night's sleep. Zan, however, was the most drastic change. All except the most prominent of scars on his body had disappeared. He seemed to smile as if something had changed on the inside. He then opened his eyes. To my surprise, both eyes were now a brilliant amethyst.

"It is strange to be able to hear my voice again. Thank you Mew. _"_ Zan said simply in a raw, whispering voice.

" _You are quite welcome."_ Mew replied with a smile before turning to me, Austin, Sam, Devin, Caleb, and Emily. _"I have prepared something for you six as well."_

Mew snapped and a small portal opened and she reached inside. She pulled out six small medallions. Each one held a symbol of an element with a Pokémon surrounding it in a way that made them seemingly chase after their tails. Three of them had lightning bolts in them. Two of those had Pikachu on them while the third had a Pichu. Two more had flames surrounded by a Vulpix and a Fletchinder. The last one had a Shinx surrounding a small spark.

Mew floated up to Austin first and gave him one of the Pikachu medals. Then, she gave the other one to Emily. She gave Devin the Pichu one while me and Caleb got the Fletchinder and the Vulpix ones. Finally Sam was given the Shinx one.

" _Each of your medals will allow you to understand any Pokémon that you come into contact with. It will also allow you to become the Pokémon that is symbolized. Do not misuse this gift. You all have done me a great service. I am proud to be able to call you all my friends. Until we meet again. Come along, son."_

" _Um, mom?"_ MK asked timidly. _"I want to stay here with Sam."_

" _MK, are you sure you want to be with that trainer?"_ Mew said with a suddenly serious face. MK only nodded. _"Very well. You may stay, but only on one condition."_

" _What's that?"_ MK asked.

" _That you come and visit me and your father. We are your parents and we do care for you."_ Mew replied with a small smile.

" _I can do that!"_ MK shouted in agreement.

" _You better."_ Mew replied before she disappeared from view.

" _Sam! Isn't this great? I get to be with you and Marik!"_ MK shouted as he tackled the pouting Sam.

"Great, just great." mumbled Sam.

"So what are we going to do now?" Caleb asked.

"We are going to begin the journey home. We will have to find Celebi, so that means we have to head for Johto." Austin said.

"I think I'm going to resume my league challenge, but I think I'm going to do it in Johto, just to keep you company." Sam said with a wink.

"Wherever Sam goes, I can go too." I said

"Well then, I guess all six of us are going then, because I can't let my sister be all by herself!" Caleb smiled brightly.

"You two aren't going anywhere! You are going to stay home where its safe!" Mom yelped. She looked like she aged about ten years in five seconds.

"You can't catch us when we have these!" Caleb and I sang as we held up our medals. There was a flash of light and then I was flying through the air while Caleb ran.

 **Third Person's POV**

"Those children will never learn." Mrs. Ward said with tears streaking down her face. She turned toward the house to see Mr. Ward was carrying two large backpacks. "What are those?"

"Well they are going to be gone for a while so I grabbed their bags. Luckily they were both still packed." Mr. Ward replied before turning to Sam and the others. "Make sure they get these."

"We sure will, Mr. Ward." Austin said. "Come on guys! The world's awaiting!"

"Will they be ok?" Mrs. Ward asked as the rest of them took off.

"I think they will be fine." Mr. Ward replied with a smile as he joined his wife in silent tears. "They have an entire future ahead of them."

* * *

I truly want to thank all of my readers for putting up with my terrible grammar and spelling! I would like to give a special thanks to Caitou zzzzzz, Average Pichu, Monpoke, an Rayrudan for all of the support they have shown me over the years. I also want to thank all of you who smashed that that favorite/follow button. I couldn't have done it without you. This is shieldliger001 saying thank you and be on the lookout for my newest story "Magic of the Soul". It will be my first Bleach fanfiction! I will see y'all next!


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